


Vindicated

by fullmetalheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anger, Angst and Humor, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) is Not Stupid, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Work In Progress, bc idk how to write captain marvel, but he also has a plan, hate isnt welcome folks, he can go choke, i like a nice balance, i refuse to tag thanos as a character, ignores the post credit scene, im neutral when it comes to the civil war debate, its fucking annoying, okay so they all need a hug, stop blaming the heroes guys, they all just want to unleash a can of whoop ass on thanos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmetalheart/pseuds/fullmetalheart
Summary: vin·di·cate/ˈvindəˌkāt/verb1. To clear (someone) of blame2. To defend, maintain, or insist on the recognition of3. To demonstrate or prove the value or validity of; justify4. To exact revenge for; avengeIn which we stop blaming the heroes for failing against impossible odds, Loki had a plan from the very start, the Avengers aren't great at giving up, the universe does not like being torn in half, and Fate allows those who try to fix it.[CURRENTLY ABANDONED]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys  
> So I've had inspiration for this for awhile and it's actually the main reason that I made my account on this website. I know how it begins, I know how it ends, I just have no clue what I'm going to do in the middle of those two things. This will either be a disaster or a work of art.  
> Infinity War left me reeling, as I'm sure it did to every single one of you reading this. After watching, my brain started scrambling to find ways to fix it. This is my way of trying to fix everything, as well as an attempt to make everything that didn't sit right with me make sense.  
> This is probably going to be a long one, so strap on in folks and get ready for the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys  
> So I've had inspiration for this for awhile and it's actually the main reason that I made my account on this website. I know how it begins, I know how it ends, I just have no clue what I'm going to do in the middle of those two things. This will either be a disaster or a work of art.  
> Infinity War left me reeling, as I'm sure it did to every single one of you reading this. After watching, my brain started scrambling to find ways to fix it. This is my way of trying to fix everything, as well as an attempt to make everything that didn't sit right with me make sense.  
> This is probably going to be a long one, so strap on in folks and get ready for the ride.

 

Loki Odinson woke up unable to breathe.

He bolted upright, fingers clawing at his throat as he gasped for air, trying to loosen the grip of a phantom hand that did not exist.

_You’re alive, it wasn’t real. Breathe you fool._

Loki inhaled sharply. The breath that filled his lungs was a gasp of relief. His heartrate slowed as he inhaled and exhaled methodically. He ignored the memory of his windpipe being crushed beneath a powerful grasp as he tried to bring himself back to reality. Loki gripped the earth beneath him. His fingers tore through wet grass and dug into damp dirt. He wrinkled his nose as he remembered where he had fallen asleep.

Loki was currently curled up amongst the roots of a colossal tree that he noted somewhat resembled a Midgardian oak tree, other than the fact that it was probably five times the size of what grew back on Earth. He had collapsed there, exhausted and unable to take another step, the night prior.

Stealing from Thanos was a more strenuous ordeal than he had anticipated.

The tree appeared to be a common species on the small, nameless dwarf planet that Loki had frantically fled to. He had passed out at the base of one of trees that made up the edge of a quite literally giant forest. He hauled himself upward on unsteady legs, using the trunk to maintain his balance. Loki slumped against it. The bark of the tree dug into his shoulders as he tried to ignore the way his head swam. He had overtaxed his magic, and now he was paying the price, but the reward was worth it.

A sudden panic gripped Loki.

_What if I lost it?_

By all common sense he knew the thought was foolish, but he couldn’t ignore the anxiety that had followed him since even before his fall from Asgard.

Anxiety and lack of reason were old friends of his.

He reached between the folds of the universe, searching for the pocket where he hid things that he couldn’t keep on his person. Loki’s fingers brushed against a small stone, and he pulled it out into his layer of reality. He stared at it as it rested on the palm of his hand. It gleamed a brilliant orange. The hum of its power prickled against his bare skin, and he couldn’t suppress the shudder of awe and greed that wracked through him. Loki stared for a moment, transfixed, before he shook himself free of its lure and put it back out of his immediate reach.

_Remember what you are here to do, Liesmith._

As Loki stared upward at the two suns that inhabited the planet’s sky, he tried to ignore the burning sensation that stung against the palm of his hand.

Because not even a god could remain in direct contact with an Infinity Stone without consequences.

 

**Wakanda**

**Five days before current time.**

When Tony Stark set foot on Earth for the first time in five days, he was not expecting the wave of grief he had just managed to suppress to hit him full force once again.

_Peter should be here with me._

He turned to look at the person who walked with him instead. Nebula, daughter of Thanos, and the only member of the haphazard team that had been wildly pieced together to battle Thanos that had survived.

Other than Tony of course.

But a part of him died on that planet along with the others.

As he trekked through Wakandan soil (because of course, they _had_ to touch down at Wakanda, the place that housed the very two people he wanted to avoid at all costs), he felt a familiar anxiety choking off his airway. He halted abruptly.

“I shouldn’t be here. I failed them. How am I supposed to look them in the face?” the words tumbled past his lips before he even realized what he was saying.

Nebula turned to look at him, her mechanical black eyes perpetually emotionless.

“They failed too, didn’t they?”

And suddenly Tony could breathe again.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Nebula inclined her head in his direction and kept walking.

 

The first person they met of course, because Tony’s luck never failed to be utter shit, was Steve Rogers.

_Better than Barnes, at least._

Steve seemed to be taking a walk, because that was such a grandpa thing to do and so utterly _Steve_ that it made him want to punch the asshole square in the jaw. He was far from the city, but with the super-soldier serum he could probably walk for hours on end without his heartrate increasing in the slightest. His own aging, weakening heart practically growled in jealousy.

Steve turned around to see who was approaching, and Tony almost laughed out loud when his blue eyes widened comically in shock.

“Tony!? Wha-”

“Fought Evil Space Barney on his home planet, got our asses kicked and lost epically, everyone else we were with turned into dust and floated away on the wind. Hurray Avengers. On the bright side, I made a new ally/acquaintance thing. Nebula, meet Steve Rogers. Rogers, meet Nebula. We flew a spaceship back to Earth together. It was nice, real bonding occurred. Oh, and nice beard, Cap.”

Tony marched on by.

“Tony wait.”

Steve’s hand was on his shoulder, and suddenly he was back in the frozen bunker, trapped in a malfunctioning suit that provided no heat, bleeding out and struggling not to cry. Tony’s breath hitched, and he tore his shoulder away from the man that used to be his friend. He whirled around to look at America’s symbol of bravery, and all he saw on his face was hurt and fear.

“Let me get something straight, _Captain_ ,” He spat out the title with utter contempt, and Steve flinched. “I will be civil, nothing more, nothing less. We are _not_ friends. I don’t care what you regret, I don’t care what apologies you have, I don’t fucking care. Do _not_ touch me.”

Steve stared, his mouth opening and closing like he was trying to speak but couldn’t make a sound.

“Glad we cleared that up.”

Tony kept walking, Nebula picked up her pace to fall in step with him, and Steve hung back from the pair uncertainly.

“I won’t be staying on Earth,” Nebula said quietly to Tony.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. Where will you go?”

“Wherever Thanos is.”

Tony stopped. He turned to her.

“How could you possibly think that-”

Nebula cut him off, “It’s all I know, Stark.”

Tony stared.

“The only thing I know how to do is hunt him. I have been chasing my revenge for the entirety of my free life. So, I will go find him, and when I do, I will try to kill him. If I fail and he doesn’t kill me, I will find him again.”

Tony whistled, “Alright Sasuke Uchiha, that’s intense. I won’t try to stop you, frankly I don’t know you well enough to. Just try not to die alright?”

She rolled her eyes, not understanding the reference but used to it after three days of being stuck in a ship with him.

“I don’t make any promises.”

Nebula turned and walked back the way they came, presumably to make use of the ship they landed in.

“You’re just going to let her go?” Steve asked.

Tony shrugged, “Like I said before, it’s not my place to try and stop her.”

They walked in silence, Tony in front despite not having a clue where they were going. Steve looked at him for a long time, and the heavy weight of his gaze was beginning to make Tony uncomfortable.

“I’d heard that Spider-Man went with you into space…” Steve trailed off as Tony’s jaw clenched. “Tony… God I’m sorry I-“

“Who’s gone?” Tony interjected. He couldn’t see Steve’s face, and he had to force himself to keep looking forward instead of trying to see what expression the blond was making.

“Tony…”

“Tell me, Rogers.”

The footsteps behind him stopped, so Tony stopped too. He kept looking forward.

“T’challa, Vision, Wanda, Sam…” Steve choked on his words before saying, “Bucky.”

Tony inhaled sharply. He felt a tinge of guilt over his previous thought of Barnes. Then a sudden panic gripped him.

“Pepper, is she-”

“She’s alive, Tony. I called last night to make sure.”

Tony couldn’t help his sigh of relief. Still, the losses were immeasurable. Vision he had been expecting, Thanos had to get the Mind Stone after all, but to hear it confirmed was like a stab in the gut. And how would Wakanda fare without its king? Tony had lost people before, but never this many all at once.

“I’m sorry… about Barnes.”

Tony could practically feel the surprise coming from Steve.

“Oh, don’t give me that look-”

Not that Tony could see the look, but he could damn well picture it.

“-I shouldn’t have attacked him in Siberia. That was wrong, I know that. You can’t get mad at the gun for killing someone, only the person pulling the trigger. Barnes was the gun. HYDRA were the ones who really killed my parents. I know that now, and I knew it then. I was just- I was so _angry_ , Steve.”

When Tony turned around to look at Steve, he wasn’t expecting his eyes to be brimming with tears, but they were. Blue irises swam in an ocean of sorrow. Grief burned in Tony’s chest. Not only for the people he had lost, but for the friendship he only just now realized he missed.

“If you had _told_ me, if you had told me I might’ve been able to process what was happening with enough reason to not get so wrapped up in my rage. But you didn’t, and that’s on _you_. I have no love for Barnes, but I don’t want him dead, not anymore.”

They stared at each other silently. Tony’s chest heaved. Steve blinked back tears.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” he whispered, gaze lowering to the ground.

“Yeah, I know.”

They kept walking.

 

Thor understood politics better than most would suspect, given that he was once a prince (even momentarily a king) of a realm that no longer existed. He was also smarter than what most people gave him credit for, mistaking his straightforward way of thinking and simple humor for ignorance and idiocy. So, when he had heard that the king of the small kingdom they resided in had perished in Thanos’ culling, he was prepared for the political backlash that would shake the royal family to the core.

The other Avengers staying there were not.

“This is stupid, how much longer are we going to have to wait for them to sort their crap out?” Bruce complained.

Thor, Bruce, Natasha, and Rhodey were sitting in the living area in the guest wing of the royal palace in Wakanda. The four of them were sprawled out amongst three couches, Thor and Bruce sharing the middle one while Natasha and Rhodey had each claimed their own. A bag of chips along with a container of salsa lay abandoned on the coffee table, where Natasha had propped her feet up.

“An event equivalent to the scale of the one that caused this political war would have taken decades to be sorted out on Asgard,” Thor informed him.

Rhodey groaned, and Bruce slid off the couch to land in a dramatic heap on the floor.

“It has only been two days. Have neither of you ever been burdened with the horrible boredom of politics before?”

“I have,” said Rhodey, “but I despise it.”

Thor snorted, “That is understandable.”

He turned his mismatched gaze to where his new weapon was propped up against the wall. Stormbreaker could take him anywhere in the universe. He could find Thanos and take his revenge. Thor looked at his tired, defeated friends. He thought about the people the Mad Titan had destroyed, the families he had torn apart, the lives he had taken. Thor felt a familiar rage building in his chest, an anger that had sat with him since he heard his brother’s neck snap and saw Heimdall die. For a moment he was tempted to try again. He wanted to pick up his axe, track down Thanos, and drive it into the monster’s skull. At least, until he remembered the futility of it all. Thor’s brief surge of fury settled back down into its constant ache in the back of his throat.

Thor sat forward and ate a chip with no salsa.

Bruce wrinkled his nose.

“Seriously? No salsa? That’s like eating a sandwich dry.”

“I like mayonnaise on my sandwiches, Banner.”

“No, that’s not what I- you know what, never mind. Enjoy your salsa-less chips.”

The door to the room opened, and all four of them turned to look as Steve strode into the room. Behind him followed someone a part of all of them had accepted they would never see again.

“Hey, I’m not dead,” said Tony Stark, peering around Steve’s broad shoulders to give them a little wave.

“Oh, hey Thor, long time no- oOF.”

The rest of Tony’s sentence got muffled by Thor’s shoulder as he pulled him into a bear hug. Tony hesitantly patted the significantly larger man on the back, until he started to get uncomfortable and squirmed out of his grip.

“Not that I dislike hugs Point Break, but I really couldn’t breathe.”

Thor took a step back and bowed his head apologetically, “I am sorry to make you uncomfortable, I’m just glad another friend made it through the past few days alive.”

For some reason that made Tony choke up.

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re alive too.”

Thor gave him a sad smile in return, which made Tony wonder just how much the God of Thunder had lost in the last week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan on trying and update every Saturday. Comments are great motivation you know ;)  
> I keep forgetting who died and who lived. I literally forgot about Rocket until just now. I'm going to spend the next fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to incorporate him into the story without it feeling forced. Whoops.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of it all, some people are struggling more to find purpose than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, look at that I'm posting a new chapter when I said I would. Wow, an actual posting schedule? I wonder how long it'll last.  
> Over the next few chapters we're going to see a lot of jumping around in perspective and time. Chapter five (which is the one that I'm currently working on) is where everything catches up to the present so you won't have to deal with it for very long. The pacing is also going to start slowing down around that chapter, so if you feel as though everything is moving too fast just bear with it for a little longer.  
> Hope you enjoy!

**????**

**???? days before current time.**

“Hey! Kid wake up!” a hand prodded his shoulder, not exactly gently, and Peter Parker stirred. He groaned and rolled over.

“Five more minutes…” he mumbled, barely audibly. He faintly registered a sigh of exasperation somewhere over his head.

“Just kick him awake,” another voice suggested.

_Nope, get up Peter, not worth it._

He sat up, “I’m awake guys, I’m awake.” Peter looked around, blinking groggily. Peter Quill, Mantis, and Drax were crowded around him.

“Are you alright little spider?” Mantis asked, her large, bug-like eyes staring at him with concern.

“‘M fine,” said Peter. He took Quill’s outstretched hand and hauled himself to his feet. “Where are we?”

“That’s what the wizard dude is trying to figure out,” said Quill, pointing over to where Stephen Strange was standing. He had his hands contorted into an odd position. Peter assumed he was doing magic-y things.

The question itself was reasonable. Based on their surroundings it was apparent that they weren’t on Earth. Everything was too… _orange._ The thick, dry sand beneath their feet was orange. The sky appeared to be perpetually stuck at that moment during sunset where the sun had just dipped below the horizon, but the sky was still painted with hues of orange and dark blue. There was no sun, no trees, no clouds, only an orange tundra that stretched as far as Peter’s enhanced eyes could see.

He had a feeling he would absolutely despise the color for the rest of his life.

“This is incredible,” Drax’s booming laugh jolted Peter out of his thoughts. “I thought we were totally dead, but we’re _not_.” For some reason Mantis found the situation equally hilarious and she laughed along with him.

Peter’s head was still spinning a bit too much to process what was happening. He swayed slightly.

“Woah are you alright?” Quill asked. He placed a steadying hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“I think so?” He replied, but it sounded more like a question than an answer. “What happened?”

Quill’s jaw clenched, and his expression turned grim. “Thanos won, that’s what happened. I hate to break it to you kid, but despite what Drax said, I’m pretty sure we’re dead.”

It was as if Peter’s entire world came crashing down around him. “Oh,” he said faintly. He felt his knees go wobbly, and Quill lowered him into a seated position on the sandy ground as he processed his reality.

Suddenly, Peter gasped. “Mr. Stark! We left him on that planet! How will he get back?”

Quill shrugged, “We left our ship somewhere. He’ll find it and fly back. I’m pretty sure Nebula was still with him and she knows how to work it. He’ll be fine.”

Peter was silent for a long time, and Quill started to fidget uncomfortably. Then Peter turned to him, his chocolate brown eyes filling with tears.

“No, he won’t be fine,” Peter choked out. “He had to watch the rest of us _die_.”

 

**Wakanda**

**Four days before current time.**

 

“So, what do we do now?” Bruce asked.

The remaining Avengers sat around in the same room as the day before. Tony had made sure to place himself as far away from Steve as possible. Instead he sat between Bruce and Rhodey. The occasional brush of their shoulders against his was comforting. At the very least, he still had friends among the living.

“I can call Clint,” Natasha suggested.

“What would be the point?” Tony asked. They all looked at him in surprise. “No, seriously, do you guys still think the situation is fixable? We lost. That’s it. I’m going back to New York to see my fiancée and help her salvage whatever is left of my company. There’s nothing else left to do.”

With that, Tony got up and left the room. The rest of them sat in sullen silence.

“I believe that a small group of my people are still alive,” Thor spoke up. “I should find them and return to them. Maybe I will bring them back to Earth using Stormbreaker.”

“That’s a good idea, Thor,” Steve encouraged softly.

“I’ll go see Clint, I guess,” said Natasha. “He lost Laura, I’m sure he could use a friend right now.”

Bruce nodded, “I’ll go back to New York with Tony, he could probably use a hand.”

Bruce and Natasha made awkward eye contact, before Bruce flushed and looked away. Those two still had a weird thing going on apparently.

“I’ll go with Tony too,” said Rhodey with a shrug. “I’m sure I’m needed over there for something.”

As the group talked about their plans, Steve watched them in silence. He tried to ignore the suffocating feeling he got in his chest as he realized that he truly had nothing left to live for anymore. Bucky was gone, the Avengers were defeated, and he had destroyed what else remained in a frozen bunker in Siberia during 2016.

 

**A planet in the depths of outer space**

**Three days before current time.**

Loki’s tricks usually worked. He was immensely glad that his current one did, however the universe seemed determined to make it so he would not see it to completion.

He leaped to the side, narrowly dodging the snapping maw of one of the three serpent-like creatures that had surrounded him. They were massive, the length of their bodies was triple the height of Loki. Their green scales glittered in the blue tinged light of the planet. They had two pairs of long, venomous fangs each, located on their top and bottom jaw. Most of all, Loki wished they would just _leave him alone_.

World-walking was a tricky business. While one usually had an idea of where they were going to end up, they had no idea _what_ would be on the other end of the path. Which, with Loki’s mighty luck, meant he had toppled into the nest of three sleeping, giant serpents.

They did not enjoy being woken up. In that sense, they almost reminded him of Thor. He had to dodge Mjolnir more times than he would care to admit in the process of waking his elder brother.

Loki tried to ignore the persistent tug of his seidr trying to show him the next hole in the fabric of the universe he would have to jump through, and instead dodged the barbed tail of another serpent.

Because of _course_ their tails were barbed.

Loki summoned a dagger, and with a precise throw, it ended up hilt deep in one of the monster’s eyes. It screeched in pain and collapsed, writhing on the floor. He watched in a detached state of bemusement.

_Note to self, aim for their eyes._

The other two serpents didn’t take kindly to their companion’s maiming and hissed menacingly at him.

_Oh, for Norn’s sake._

They struck as one. Or at least, they attempted to. Both monsters phased through Loki’s illusion and struck each other. They screeched in anger and confusion, their heads whipping around trying to find the real trickster, but Loki was already gone. He raced through the trees, following the direction his seidr had laid out for him. He slipped into the pathway his magic had opened and hoped that there would be no more monsters waiting for him on the other side.

 

**Sakaar**

**Two days before current time.**

 

Loki had once told him that all Asgardians had access to seidr. He had informed him that long ago, the Aesir were people of magic, but they had abandoned the practice long ago in favor of swords and shields. Thor had scoffed at the idea, claiming that he didn’t need to resort to magic as he was a true warrior. Loki had looked at him as though he was the biggest buffoon to ever exist.

_“Where do you think you get your ability to call on the weather, you utter dimwit?”_

Thor had gained a lot more respect for his brother’s skills after the conversation.

Now, as Thor trudged over piles of trash, he wondered if his brother had been more correct than he had realized. Thor knew exactly where he needed to go to find what remained of Asgard. He felt the call of his people deep within his very being and he followed it- to Sakaar.

_Really Valkyrie? Out of all the places you could have gone you pick this trash heap._

He supposed it was familiar to her. Besides, Thor had to admit it was the last place anyone would look to find the small remainder of what had once been the grand people of Asgard. Thor sighed dejectedly and kicked a scrap of metal out of his path.

He really hoped that a scrapper wouldn’t appear out of nowhere like last time he had arrived at the planet and interrupt his brooding thoughts.

_The mighty Thor, what are you the king of? A thousand townspeople and a drunken, fallen warrior? Your family and your best friends are dead because you failed to protect them. Your home is destroyed. You are no more a king than you were all those centuries ago, playing at ruling the realm with your younger brother in the palace gardens._

The voice in his head sounded remarkably like Loki.

Thor shook his head free his adverse thoughts and trekked onward until he found where the remaining Asgardians had made themselves home. It was a large clearing amongst piles of trash, and where he stood on one gave him an excellent viewpoint over the camp itself. Makeshift tents had been constructed out of scraps of fabric and wood. More permanent residences stood along the edge of the camp, made up of the old husks of abandoned ships. There was a flow to the way the people moved, weaving in and out of tents and each other with a practiced ease that made Thor think that they had lived with in this setting for a long time. With a jolt he remembered how time passed oddly in Sakaar, and he tried to ignore the guilt sitting in his chest as he wondered how long they had to wait for his return.

Thor wondered how many more of them had been lost with a snap of Thanos’ fingers. The age-old feeling of fury clawed its way up his throat, and he pretended that he didn’t feel the embarrassing, bitter sting of unshed tears.

“So, you’re not dead then.”

Thor’s head whipped around in surprise to see the Valkyrie making her way up the very same trash heap he stood on. He outstretched his hand to her and pretended not to notice her brief hesitation before she took it. Thor helped her up the final few steps to where he stood now. She joined him in gazing out at the small village the Asgardians had made for themselves.

“It’s not much, but we did the best with what we had,” she informed him.

“How did you get the Grandmaster to be okay with this?” Thor asked.

The Valkyrie gave him a wicked grin that reminded Thor of Loki. Everything seemed to remind him of Loki, and grief joined the ever-persistent weight of guilt and rage.

“I told him to piss off unless he wanted a bunch of angry Asgardians to storm his city. He left us alone after that.”

Thor allowed himself a small smile, but it faded quickly. The two warriors stood in silence for a while.

“You lost.”

It wasn’t a question, rather a statement.

“More than I thought possible,” Thor said softly.

“I know the feeling.”

She didn’t pry further, and silence fell upon them once more.

“Heimdall is dead. So is- so is- so-” Thor choked on his words. He didn’t understand why the emotions were just truly hitting him now, but suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

“Loki,” the Valkyrie finished for him. There was no grief in her voice, only a tinge of regret.

Thor nodded wordlessly, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.

“Hey- _hey_ , Thor get a grip.” Her words were harsh but not unkind, and somewhere away from the panic and loneliness and grief that stole away his breath, Thor registered her hand gripping his bicep as she lowered him to the trash beneath him to ride out whatever _the hell_ was happening to him.

Distantly he hoped that one of the Asgardians below wouldn’t look up to see their king having a mental breakdown.

“I just- I saw them _die,_ Valkyrie. I mean I’ve seen Loki die before but somehow this was worse and I- I don’t know what to believe because he’s _Loki_ and he _can’t_ be dead but what if he is this time and I’m left alone? I just- _what do I do_ , Val?”

He buried his face in his hands and laughed breathlessly. His cheeks felt wet against his palms and _Norns_ he was crying.

_Look at you now, Son of Odin. How does it feel to be utterly pathetic?_

The Valkyrie sat next to him silently as his shoulders shook with a cruel combination of muffled sobs and hysterical laughter. Thor felt a nudge to his shoulder and he glanced upward to see a proffered drink in front of his face. He blinked at it stupidly, before he took it and unscrewed the bottlecap with shaking fingers.

The taste was terrible, but the burn of liquor sliding down Thor’s throat was a familiar friend.

He drained the bottle to the last drop.

The Valkyrie looked mildly impressed.

“I used to go drinking with my friends, less than two decades ago. I can handle liquor,” Thor informed her, and she couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.

“My, my, how irresponsible for Asgard’s golden prince.” She took the bottle from him and threw it into the sea of trash behind them. It landed with a satisfying crash.

“You misunderstand me, I was never the responsible one. That was always Loki, at least until he tried to destroy a realm and then conquer Midgard.”

Thor found that he could say his brother’s name easily now, and he began to understand the Valkyrie’s drinking habits even further.

The Valkyrie whistled, “Your family is somewhat problematic.”

Thor snorted, “That might be the understatement of the millennium.”

“Did you kill Thanos?”

Thor started at the suddenness of the question before shaking his head.

“We didn’t lose anyone else?”

“No,” she told him, giving him a slightly puzzled look.

Thor felt warm relief blossom in his chest. It even tingled in his fingers, or maybe that was just the liquor. It seemed that Thanos had believed that the nearly extinct population of Aesir had been diminished enough to be spared any further death.

Thor didn’t explain, and the Valkyrie didn’t ask. She pulled another bottle of alcohol from _somewhere_ and took a swig, and then she said, “You be a king.”

Thor gave her a confused look.

“You asked me what you should do, now I’m telling you,” she told him. The Valkyrie nodded in the direction of the Asgardian camp. “They’re still your people, and they need a leader right now. Norns know I can’t be that for them, but you can. Be a king, Thor Odinson. That’s your duty, is it not?”

Thor stared at her as she finished the rest of her drink in one huge gulp. She stood up and offered him her hand. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet.

“Well, Your Majesty? Do you think you can handle it?”

Thor stared out at his people, mismatched eyes hardening with resolve.

“I can damn well try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throughout this work, my preference for the Thor side of the MCU might bleed out a bit. If you don't like Loki or Thor (I honestly don't understand why anyone would dislike those two) then I strongly advise you to either stop reading or prepare yourself for a lot of writing focused around them. I will try to keep everything evenly balanced between all the characters, but that is somewhat difficult to do with so many, and I will not be able to stop myself from going back to my two favorite brothers.  
> I just came back from a party and I'm somewhat delirious with exhaustion, so this chapter is somewhat less thoroughly proofread. Please forgive any mistakes. But man my feet hurt, I both love and hate wearing heels.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Loki's plan, and someone else learns about more death. You know, because we didn't have enough angst before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this at midnight. Does that make this a post on Friday or Saturday?  
> Either way it's earlier than usual.  
> I was working on chapter six and I got so absorbed in writing that I literally forgot that I was writing. I have something similar happen to me often when I'm reading, but this is the first time I've ever experienced something like this while actually writing. It was a rather disorienting feeling. I feel as though I have evolved more as an author. I've leveled up.  
> I'm going to warn you right now, chapter six gets heavy. I was kind of terrified of myself when I actually went back and read what I wrote because damn.  
> You guys will see in a few weeks.  
> For now however, enjoy the incorporation of literally almost everyone else in a single chapter.

Steve and Natasha found Loki staggering through the forests of Wakanda utterly exhausted. They noticed him before he did, which struck the both of them as a little odd. Well, the whole situation was odd, considering the fact that they had been told that Loki was dead for the _second_ time.

They stood there for a couple of seconds, glancing at each other before back at Loki. Thor was still on God knows what planet gathering whoever lived of his people to return to Earth. They weren’t really sure what to do.

“Um… Loki?” Steve spoke first.

Loki paused, then turned around.

“Oh good, it’s you. You might want to wait a bit before killing me. Is my brother on this realm by any chance?” he said.

Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground.

They approached his prone form cautiously. Natasha poked him with the tip of her boot.

“Yup, he’s out.”

She looked at Steve.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She gestured to Loki.

“Wait, you want me to _carry_ him!?”

 

**Another random planet in the depths of space**

**One day before current time.**

Loki’s magic had led him here.

The planet was calm and tranquil, and only had one living resident other than the small forms of wildlife that skittered through the bushes.

Thanos.

Loki hated to be so close to his would-be killer, but he had a job to complete. This was one of the most crucial parts of his plan after all.

His seidr tugged at him, whispering, telling him exactly where the Infinity Gauntlet was located. A smug grin spread across his face. Thanos had gotten overconfident. He believed that his job was done, that after taking out half the planet, no one alive would try to oppose him anymore.

Unbeknownst to him, Loki was very much alive and enacting the plot of his own scheme. He was not the only one who was still willing to put up a fight either. Loki was sure that, given the chance, Thor and his Midgardian friends would act at the first chance of revenge, and they would not be able to resist the possibility of making things right again.

Loki planned on giving them that chance.

Thanos doesn’t keep the Infinity Gauntlet on his person, it’s not even in his _house_. Loki supposed he could understand. The constant presence of a power as great as a _single_ Infinity Stone could corrupt just about anyone. All _six_ of them… well, Loki could sympathize with the problem. It was somewhat wise for him to keep it out of his presence.

Wise but overconfident.

As far as Thanos knew, there was no one left to oppose him who could properly wield the Infinity Stones. The mortals would die trying and Thor simply did not know _how_. That’s where his overconfidence came in, and Loki would use that to his advantage.

He scaled the side of the steep cliff with ease, hauling himself up to a narrow ledge. He peered into the dark cave where Thanos had hidden his most prized possession. Loki paused for a moment, observing, and when he visibly noticed nothing he sent his seidr to investigate.

There was a warding, of course, not of seidr but a different form of magic. He made quick work of it, unraveling the unfamiliar power with his own. Loki kept looking and came across quite a few traps. He disabled them and sent his seidr further.

Loki inhaled deeply and yanked his presence back into himself when it brushed against the Infinity Gauntlet. He used his seidr to conjure a light before walking into the cave. Sure enough, any traps or wardings that might have gotten in his way Loki had disabled before even stepping into the cave. He walked further, and when he reached his objective a brief battle took place within him.

Loki was standing in front of the Infinity Gauntlet.

He could take it and reshape the world in his image. He could conquer, all would bow down to him. He could live a fantasy he could only have ever dreamed of for all of eternity. For a moment he felt giddy with excitement. With this power, Loki could quite literally do whatever he wanted.

_Focus._

Loki snapped out of his daze as logic took hold of him. He knew that power would corrupt him. He could conquer the world, but he would lose himself while doing it. He probably wouldn’t even be able to bring it all the way back to Midgard before he completely lost his mind. A few years ago, he wouldn’t have even hesitated. Now there was someone who had begun to believe in him again, only to have that belief crushed, and Loki found that he couldn’t quite let things end that way.

Loki took the Soul Stone. Its power burned against his palm and throbbed in tandem with his own seidr. It was already weaving its presence into him. The effect was dizzying, familiar and unfamiliar all at once.

_Damn._

Loki weaved hasty walls of protection around his mind, vowing to construct better ones when he had the time and power to spare. He would die before he allowed his conscious to be compromised by an outside power again.

Then he sent his seidr to work.

First, he set about making an exact physical replica of the Soul Stone. Something that would usually take him a couple seconds took him nearly ten minutes. It had to be _perfect_. At the same time, he set up a temporary warding along the outside of the cave to alert him if anyone was making their way inside. All would be lost if Thanos caught him in the act.

Then he used his magic to make the fake Soul Stone mimic the real Soul Stone’s presence. It was tedious and taxing. The fake would have none of the power of a real Infinity Stone, it just needed to _feel_ like one. It was a bit tricky to get the Infinity Gauntlet to accept the fake, but if Loki was a genius at anything it would be deception. It took him over an hour, but eventually he was slotting the fake into its place on the Infinity Gauntlet.

_That was almost too easy._

He had the one Stone he needed to conduct his plan, but he glanced at the green Time Stone and hesitated. Another Infinity Stone _would_ be useful, and he knew of a certain mortal sorcerer who could properly channel its power.

As he stood there debating whether it was worth the risks it would take, his warding went off, alerting him of someone making their way towards the cave.

_Shit._

In mere seconds, Loki had torn down his warding and erased all traces of his presence. He hastily reconstructed all the traps and weaved a warding to mimic the one that had been there before he had taken it down. Loki didn’t have enough time to check his work because footsteps were echoing down the tunnel. He cast a working over himself to hide from view and ducked around a clump of stalagmites. His seidr was already reaching for a nearby area where the barrier in between realities was weaker.

_Hand crushing his windpipe. Lungs aching, begging for air that wouldn’t come. Vertebrae in his neck snapping._

Panic welled up his throat. He needed to get away. Everything in him was screaming to at him to _run_.

His seidr acted without him asking it to, and suddenly he was at the bottom of the cliff. Praying to any higher power that might be listening that Thanos didn’t notice the teleportation, he staggered to the portal that he had already opened and fell through it.

 

**????**

**???? days before current time.**

“I believe,” said Strange, “that we’re inside the Soul Stone.”

“Great, of course we are,” said Quill with a snort. “How is that even possible?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” he informed them rather unhelpfully.

Peter looked around, turning in a slow circle. He tried to see anything different from the endless, rolling hills of sand. It was completely barren.

“That kind of makes sense in a way that doesn’t make sense at all,” said Peter. “I mean, look at our surroundings, it’s all _orange_. Wasn’t the Soul Stone orange?”

“Why do you even know what color it was?” asked Quill.

“I pay attention… sometimes.”

Strange sighed, “Yes, the Soul Stone is orange.”

The three of them stood contemplating silently. Drax and Mantis seemed completely oblivious to the solemn mood that had taken over them, laughing about something or other.

“So, if we’re inside the Soul Stone… what does that mean for us? Are we actually dead? Thanos won right? We can’t be the only people he killed like that. Shouldn’t there be like, a trillion other people in here with us?” asked Peter.

“Wait, we are inside the Soul Stone? How is that possible? It is too small to hold us,” interjected Drax.

Strange pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Can we get out of here somehow? If we can figure out a way to get out then maybe everyone else he killed can get out too,” said Quill.

“First of all, the Infinity Stones together literally hold all the power of the entire universe. I’m sure it can make room for a trillion insignificant souls.”

“Okay ouch,” said Peter.

“But it’s too small…” said Mantis.

“I don’t understand it,” said Drax.

“You don’t need to!” Strange snapped. He sighed again. “The Infinity Stones are massive power sources. Think of them like batteries that never run out. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the Soul Stone, but theoretically it makes sense that it would absorb the power of those it helped kill.”

“Like it’s charging,” said Peter.

“Exactly.”

Quill rubbed his forehead, “So the ‘power’ that it absorbed is our _souls_.”

“Seems like it,” said Strange.

“So, there should be other people in here right?” asked Peter.

“I believe so.”

“We should try and find anyone else and confirm your theory,” he suggested.

“Let us march onward then!” Drax shouted.

“Yeah!” said Mantis.

They began to walk forward.

“Great,” Strange groaned.

“Come on,” said Peter, “at least it gives us some objective.”

As they began their search, Quill fell behind the group. He tried to push down the faint hope that had begun to bloom in his chest, but he couldn’t help it. If Thanos had used to Soul Stone to kill her, then maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he would be able to see Gamora again, and suddenly that was all he could think about.

 

**Somewhere else inside the Soul Stone**

**???? days before current time.**

 

“Where in the hell are we?” asked Bucky.

“I am Groot,” said Groot.

“I _get it_ ,” said Bucky, exasperated. “It’s not helping.”

“I believe that is his way of speaking,” said Wanda quietly.

“The little dude hasn’t said anything else so I’m going to have to agree,” said Sam.

“Great.”

They stood in a small clump amongst hundreds of Wakandan warriors and citizens. They were all the people in the country that Thanos had killed.

 _All except one_ , Wanda reminded herself with a pang of grief.

T’challa had disappeared, probably trying to comfort or lead his people. At the moment, none of them envied him.

“Are we dead?” asked Bucky.

“Knowing our luck? Probably,” said Sam.

“Fantastic.”

“I am Groot,” Groot informed them.

“Yeah no, still don’t have a single clue as to what you’re saying,” said Bucky. The sentient tree stomped his feet in frustration and stalked off.

“I think you upset him,” Sam told him.

“Shut up,” said Bucky.

“What do we do?” Wanda asked.

They all stood silently for a moment.

“I have no idea,” said Sam with a shrug.

They all sighed.

 

**Wakanda**

**One day before current time.**

 

The first time Tony saw the talking racoon, he nearly had a heart attack.

He was talking with Bruce in the living area when it poked its head into the room and walked past them.

“Oh, hey Rocket,” said Bruce like this was a completely normal thing.

The racoon grunted in reply and then left.

“Bruce?”

“Yeah Tony?”

“Was that a talking racoon?”

“What? Oh yeah, that was. Don’t call him a racoon though, it makes him angry.”

“… Good to know.”

The next time Tony saw him was outside. Rocket was crouched in front of what appeared to be a radio transmitter. From what Tony could make out on his racoon face, he appeared frustrated.

“Hey man, what’re you doing?” Tony asked.

Rocket looked up at him briefly before turning back to his work. “Trying to send out a signal to my crew.”

“Your crew?”

Rocket nodded, “You know, the Guardians of the Galaxy. You may have heard of them.”

He sounded proud. Tony hummed in thought, before his stomach dropped in realization.

“Oh,” he said softly.

“What? What is it? Do you know them? Have you heard from them?”

“The guy obsessed with 80’s references, the weird girl with the antennas, and the oblivious dude who’s built like he could take down a tank, right?” asked Tony, dreading what he was about to say.

“Yeah that’s them. So, you’ve met them… Oh no, I don’t like that look on your face.”

Tony took a breath.

_Better to just rip off the band-aid._

“Don’t say it. I don’t to hear it.”

“I’m very sorry Rocket-”

“No. Stop.”

“-but they’re all dead.”

Tony didn’t think it was possible to hate Thanos more than he already did, but seeing Rocket’s expression made the fury that had been smoldering in his chest ignite into a roaring fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I'm not too sure if I like this one all that much. It feels really forced to me. You guys tell me what you think.  
> I feel so tempted to just ignore my posting schedule and post everything that I already have written, but then there's the chance I won't write for two weeks and leave you guys stranded with no updates.  
> So how about we not do that.  
> I almost want to increase the frequency of my posting schedule. I'm writing too quickly for my once a week schedule, but too slowly for a twice a week schedule.  
> Why do I make everything so difficult for myself?  
> Okay enough of my lamenting, this is what happens when I post at what's rapidly approaching 1 AM.  
> I hope you guys enjoyed :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers (sans Clint and you know, everyone else who kind of died) talk to Loki. Of course they take everything he has to say with a grain of salt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the real beginning of the story, meaning that the jumping around in time is finally done. We're also at over 9k words with 10k just over the horizon. The next few chapters are a lot of dialogue, which I sometimes feel like I do badly, but it is necessary to the plot so alas you must read my poorly written dialogue scenes... well you don't have to you could just stop reading but that would hurt my feelings so please don't.  
> I'm posting this at nearly midnight, which means that this is almost late yikes.  
> I binge watched Sense8 all day and finally got to the season finale (the show has a total of, not one, but TWO orgy scenes) and it was rather entertaining. And then I went out and nearly forgot to update... go me.  
> Anyway, enough of my rambling. Enjoy the chapter ;)

The Avengers stared at Loki inside the cell.

He was still unconscious, curled up on the cot in back right corner. They had all gathered to discuss what course of action to take, but so far the only thing they had managed to do is gawk at the former supervillain.

“He’s not going to get out, right?” asked Rhodey.

“He probably could if he wanted to,” said Bruce rather unhelpfully.

“Well that’s great,” said Rhodey. His voice sounded strained. He hadn’t been a part of the Avengers back when Loki invaded, but he saw what it did to Tony.

That was more than an ample reason to be somewhat afraid.

“He’s not really evil anymore. I think at least. We should be fine,” Bruce informed them.

“Hate to break it to you Bruce, but that’s not very comforting,” said Tony.

Princess Shuri took that moment to walk into the room.

“He’s not getting out. I designed that cell myself,” she told them.

None of them had seen her very much over the past week. She had been caught up in dealing with the sudden weight of ruling as well as her own grief. After passing over temporary command to Okoye (which in itself took a few days) she had completely disappeared into her labs.

None of them blamed her.

She stood next to Steve now, peering into the cell.

“So that’s the guy who invaded New York, huh? He looks kind of scrawny.”

“You flatter me,” said Loki drily. They all jumped in surprise.

Loki sat up slowly, stretching his arms above his head casually. Even on the other side of the glass, the Avengers could hear his joints popping. They watched him warily as his eyes passed over the group. His green gaze settled on Shuri.

“Ah, so we’re not in New York anymore.”

Her eyes widened, “How could you possibly-”

“I didn’t know until you just confirmed it, Princess,” said Loki with a wicked smile. “You seem like the royal type, and America does not function under that system of government.”

“Ugh, so you’re the manipulative type,” said Shuri, “That’s gross.”

“I’d be offended but honestly I’m used to that kind of reaction,” Loki deadpanned.

He turned his gaze to someone else, licking his lips.

“Hello Bruce.”

“Hey Loki,” said Bruce, shifting uncomfortably. Loki noticed the discomfort and his grin widened marginally.

"Having problems with the beast, are you?" asked Loki, his eyes glittering.

Bruce choked, opening his mouth to answer before shutting it again.

Steve, always the type to get right to the point, asked, “Why are you here Loki?”

“That is the question, isn’t it Captain?” said Loki raising an eyebrow. “You’re supposed to be intelligent right? Tell me, why do you think I’m here?”

"Great, more games, my favorite," Tony grumbled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re looking for your brother,” said Steve, blue eyes narrowed.

“Well yes but I told you that,” answered Loki, impatiently waving his hand.

“You’re scheming something,” Tony cut in.

“I’m always scheming something,” said Loki with a roll of his eyes. “No, I’m asking _what_ you think I’m scheming.”

He was met with silence. Loki sighed and leaned back against the wall, stretching his legs out in front of him.

“You’re all no fun.”

Tony snorted, “I’m plenty of fun. I’m just not in the mood to screw around with megalomaniac super villains.”

Loki raised an eyebrow.

“So, when _are_ you in the mood then?” Loki asked with a suggestive smirk on his lips. Tony spluttered.

“I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM IN A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP-”

“Enough,” said Steve. Tony’s face was bright red, while Loki looked like he was having the time of his life despite being in a cage. As Steve studied him, it suddenly struck him how _different_ Loki looked. The Loki that Steve remembered had looked sick. The Loki that was sitting in front of him lacked the maniacal glint in his eyes that used to be present. He almost looked healthy when you ignored the dark circles under his eyes that were a telltale sign of exhaustion. Mostly however, the difference presented itself in the way he spoke. Instead of brutal, razor sharp words that tore into the listeners, Loki was almost _playful_. His words were still weapons, but instead of cruel daggers they were like dull butter knifes that he jabbed irritatingly into their ribs. He was still a pain in the ass, he was just more… _sane_.

Steve thought it was a vast improvement.

Natasha, who had been quiet for the whole time, finally spoke up.

“Thor said you were dead.”

Loki shrugged. For a moment Steve thought he saw guilt flash in his eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

“He should know better than that by now.”

“Thanos didn’t kill you. That was part of a plan,” said Natasha, stalking closer to the glass barrier separating them. Loki grinned and leaned forward.

“Go on Agent Romanov, tell me about my plan.”

She paused, studying him. A single eyebrow arched upwards as her lips pressed into a thin line.

“You wanted to end up on Earth of course, and you wanted to be found by _us_. You wanted the Avengers to find you. Whatever you’re planning, we’re the key, and somehow this all ties back to you faking your death.”

“You’re as sharp as always,” Loki praised, something akin to approval had joined the humor dancing in his eyes.

“The question isn’t what you’re planning, but rather what you _want_ ,” said Steve. He moved forward to stand next to Natasha. “What is it that you want, Loki?”

“Finally, you’re asking the right question,” said Loki in a somewhat condescending tone that made Steve want to introduce him to his fist.

“Well? Are you going to answer it?” asked Tony.

Loki stood up and brushed himself off. Then he made his way towards the glass, standing so that he was face to face to Steve. Loki paused in front of him. He tilted his head to the side and tapped a finger to his lips, appearing to be considering his answer.

“There are three things I want," Loki told them. "The first, is to keep that idiotic brother of mine alive. I hate to admit it, but I’m rather attached to him and would prefer to keep him breathing.” Loki looked almost resentful as he admitted it, as if he couldn't imagine anything worse than actually caring about a person.

Tony coughed, “Yeah right.”

“The _second_ ,” said Loki loudly, talking over Tony, “is to make Thanos pay for everything that he has done.” Loki let his mask drop for a brief moment, and his lip curled in disgust. A look of utter hatred marred his previously controlled expression. Something flashed in his eyes and Steve almost took a step back in alarm because _there_ was the guy he remembered from New York. It lasted barely a second before his expression smoothed back over to something marginally less crazy.

No one doubted that point, though some were plenty confused about it.

“The third,” Loki continued as if he hadn’t briefly transformed into a psychopath, “is to give you all the chance to do the same. That _is_ what you do, correct? I’m here to give you a chance to live up to your name, and to possibly even fix the damage you were unable to prevent.”

The silence that fell was so heavy you could have heard a pin drop.

 

“He’s lying,” said Tony as soon as they walked out of the room.

Bruce frowned uncertainly, “He didn’t sound like he was lying.”

“Of course he didn’t. He’s the God of Lies, it’s what he _does_.”

Bruce said nothing.

“He wasn’t lying,” said Natasha, “not about how he feels about Thanos anyway.”

“So, what’s it like then? Enemy of my enemy is my friend?” asked Tony.

“Hopefully it’s something along those lines,” said Steve.

“The problem with that,” said Rhodey, “is that Loki has been our enemy long before he was ever even considered to be friend.”

“Why would he even hate Thanos? Wasn’t he working for him?” Tony said.

“What if he wasn’t working with him willingly?” asked Bruce.

Suddenly Tony felt uncomfortable. He exhaled slowly, “Well shit, I never thought about that.”

“If that’s the case then the fact that he hates him makes a lot of sense,” noted Steve.

“What do we do?” Bruce asked.

“I’m going to call Clint,” said Natasha, already dialing as she walked away.

“I have a feeling that’s not going to end well,” said Bruce as he watched her leave.

Steve sighed, “All we can really do is wait for Thor to come back. Hopefully he’ll know what to do.”

 

It took a while for all the Asgardians to get ready for departure. According to Valkyrie, the weird time difference on Sakaar made it feel like they had been here for months. They had really settled into the camp, and it seemed as though they had been prepared to stay there for much longer.

When Thor had walked into the camp it had caused a rush of excitement through his people. They had surged forward, gathering around him in a crowd as he stopped to explain all that had happened. In a solemn tone, he informed them of how the universe had lost and Thanos had won. Their excitement died down into disappointment as they heard of their king’s defeat. Thor did not falsify any of the events. He swore to himself that he would be an honest king.

He refused to sit upon the throne of lies on which his brother and father had made themselves so comfortable.

Thor filled his words with steely determination as he spoke of Earth. He told them how he had managed to procure a small piece of uninhabited land in Wakanda. Thor felt his people’s hope swell as he described the home they could make for themselves there, and suddenly the buzz of excitement had seized the Aesir once more.

He took a moment to wonder when he had become so proficient with words.

_Loki would be proud_ , he thought with a bitter pang in his chest. Then he abruptly shoved that thought to the dark recesses of his mind.

_Stop thinking about Loki_ , he told himself. Not because he wanted to, but because Thor _had_ to stop. His life would move on, with or without Loki, he needed to focus on the present and not the past.

He knew that, but his heart seemed keen on ignoring his mind.

Eventually everyone was ready to leave Sakaar. He sent them through in groups of approximately fifty, raising Stormbreaker to open the Bifrost. Valkyrie went with the first group with instructions from Thor to help start setting up camp. It took over two hours, but finally every last living Asgardian was standing on Midgardian soil. That realization sent a jolt down Thor’s spine.

He and Valkyrie began handing out assignments. They sent out teams to chop wood, gather food, and scout the area. Then, after ensuring that the Valkyrie was keeping watch over camp set up, Thor left to go discuss matters with Princess Shuri and Okoye.

When the Bifrost set him outside the Wakandan royal palace, he was met with all the remaining Avengers staring at him expectantly. He walked up to them, brows furrowed in question. They shifted nervously as he approached.

“Hello my friends, is there something that you need?” Thor asked, tipping his head slightly to the side in confusion.

They all glanced at each other, unsure, before Steve smiled kindly.

“We heard you just got back. How are your people?” he asked.

“They are well, thank you for asking.”

“Loki’s alive,” Bruce blurted out, his eyes widening as he realized what he said. Everyone else groaned in exasperation.

“ _I’m_ the one who’s supposed to have no tact Bruce,” said Tony.

Thor stood there silently, his brain taking a moment to process what he just heard.

_Loki’s alive._

Thor wanted to cry.

_Of course he is._

Suddenly, he burst into laughter. He doubled over in mirth, shoulders shaking as he ran out of breath. He laughed so hard his stomach ached. The other watched him with concern.

“Hey Thor? Are you um, are you alright?” asked Tony.

Thor straightened up immediately. He wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, unsure if they were from his laughter, numb relief, or the minuscule lump of bitterness that had formed in his throat. It seemed as though no matter how much he told himself that Loki was becoming predictable, he continued to fall for the same tricks.

Thor offered his friends a weak attempt at a smile.

“Of course I am," he told them, voice solemn once more. "I assume that you have him in custody.”

“Yes,” said Natasha without hesitation. The others shot her a look at how easily she informed Thor that his brother was locked up. They appeared to have forgotten that Thor had fought on their side against him, and that he understood their wariness better than anyone.

Thor nodded slowly before saying, “Very well, I’ll need to speak with him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of feel like I started strong and these chapters are going downhill... yikes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asgardian family reunions are always rather dramatic. Clint, of course, is not very happy with Loki's reappearance in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has the two scenes that I originally thought of as soon as I was walking out of the theater after watching Infinity War. Oddly enough, at that time I didn't think that I would ever actually get around to writing them. Life is funny that way.  
> Oh and by the way, try not to get mad at Clint for his reaction in this chapter. Loki literally mind controlled him and forced him to attack and try to kill his best friend. Quite frankly, he's allowed to be a dick.  
>  **That being said, that does not mean that I don't love Loki.**  
>  Enjoy the chapter!

The Avengers stood crowded around a computer monitor that displayed a live video feed from the cell Loki was currently being detained in. They watched as Thor strode into the room like he owned the place, chin held high and eyes blazing.

Loki had been sitting against the wall with his legs folded neatly underneath himself. His closed eyes fluttered open as Thor approached the glass. He did not seem surprised to see his brother. In a smooth motion he stood up and brushed himself off, waiting in a calm silence for Thor to speak. Thor stared at him quietly. His blue eyes were akin to chips of ice, a stark contrast from the usual warmth they held that encouraged thoughts of clear skies on sunny days.

“So, you’re alive,” Thor finally spoke up.

“Yes,” said Loki, simply.

“I had to watch you die… _again_.” Thor’s face twisted with hurt.

“I know.” Loki’s voice was soft.

For some reason that response made bitter fury begin to bubble up against Thor’s sternum.

“Do you care so little about how that would affect me?” he asked.

“It’s not that I do not care, I only did what I had to do.”

“Did you _have_ to die on Svartalfheim? Or fall from the Bifrost?”

Something unreadable flashed in Loki's eyes. “No, those were choices made out of emotional distress.”

“And this time wasn’t?” Thor asked.

“Not entirely,” said Loki, truthful for once in his life.

“You have an explanation then.” This was a statement.

“I assure you that it is perfectly reasonable.”

Thor studied his brother for a moment before saying, “Let me in.”

The Avengers watching hesitated. None of them were terribly comfortable with opening any cage that kept Loki contained.

“Do not worry,” said Thor, “he will not hurt me.”

Loki waited with an eyebrow arched in disbelief. “They would be fools to open this cell.”

“They trust me,” Thor told him.

The Avengers all shifted uncomfortably, but Tony knew what he was going to do. His only current thought was _fuck it_.

“Hell yeah we do,” said Tony. He pressed the release button on the glass doors.

“Tony!” about half of them yelped in surprise. The other half rolled their eyes.

“Close the door behind me if it makes you feel more comfortable,” said Thor before striding in. The doors hissed shut behind him.

As soon as Thor crossed the threshold Loki’s eyes widened fractionally in what almost appeared to be alarm. He scrambled backwards a few steps.

“Look Thor, I already told you that I have an explanation. And honestly can you blame me? It was _Thanos_ , only fools like you lot would try to face him with no plan. Besides, once you hear what I have to say you will be _thanking-_ ”

_Crack._

The rest of Loki’s sentence got cut off because suddenly Thor’s fist was in his face. Even the Avengers watching winced as they heard Loki’s nose break. Tony whistled, and Steve gave him a _look_.

_Fuck you Rogers, you’re nobody’s captain anymore._

Of course, Loki went flying because it was a punch full force from _Thor_. He hit the wall and slid into a tragic heap on the floor, shoulders shaking. For a bizarre moment Tony thought he was crying, at least until the sound of laughter crackled through the horrible speakers they were using to eavesdrop.

“Do you always have to aim for my _face_?” he sounded exasperated but not hurt, and Tony had a sudden realization that despite not looking the part, Loki is probably nearly as hardy as Thor. Loki clamped a hand to his face and glared up at Thor. Blood trickled through his fingers and landed in small splatters on the floor.

“Breaking your nose is satisfying.”

“I hate you.”

Thor glared at him.

“Okay so I probably deserved that.”

Thor cleared his throat.

“Fine! I _definitely_ deserved that.”

Thor gave him a smug grin.

 “Can you stop making that face please? You look like a moron.”

Thor snorted, “Well that’s what you usually look like. Maybe we’ll finally look related if I go a couple days without washing my hair and constantly made that face.”

Loki scowled. He grabbed the small pillow on top of his cot and threw it at Thor who batted it away with ease, dissolving into a fit of laughter at Loki’s disgruntled expression. After he quieted down, Thor offered a hand in assistance to his brother, still chuckling. Loki eyed it in distrust.

“You’re not going to punch me again, are you?”

“No.”

Loki wiped his nose, and suddenly any sign that it was broken disappeared. It righted itself perfectly, bruises fading into nothing and blood disappearing like it never existed in the first place.

Tony felt his stomach drop, because they had _completely_ _forgotten about his magic_. Loki could have gotten out of that cage whenever he had wanted to, and by the looks on the others’ faces he knew they were making similar realizations. Loki’s expression didn’t change, but Tony had a sinking feeling that the trickster knew exactly what he had revealed.

It made them all wonder how long they had been playing Loki’s game.

Inside the cell, Loki accepted the help to his feet. Thor used this to pull him into a hug. Loki stiffened and squirmed.

“Thor.”

“Just let it happen.”

Loki sighed and relaxed, before allowing his arms to loosely return the embrace. When Loki realized he could feel Thor trembling against him he squeezed him a little tighter.

Dropping his voice into a low whisper so those listening in could not hear, Loki said, “I’m here you sentimental fool. I’m _here_.”

Thor choked on a sob.

Bruce lurched forward and shut the video off. At everyone else’s glare he held his hands up in surrender.

“I was starting to feel kind of awkward. I mean that’s like, a very personal and emotional interaction. I felt like an intruder.”

Steve sighed and raked a hand through his hair, “Yeah me too.”

“Is it bad that I really didn’t care?” Tony asked, “Honestly I think it’s because it felt too much like an episode of _Supernatural_ to be real.”

Bruce sighed, “Tony, why are you like this?”

“You love me, Brucie,” said Tony, shooting him a wink.

“Yeah right,” said Bruce, much to the delight of the other Avengers there.

Tony feigned offense while they all laughed, and Steve’s heart ached because it felt so much like the old times that it had to be a dream.

 

Thor asked them to let Loki of the cell. When they all hesitated, Thor kindly reminded them that they had no way to seal his magic meaning that he could get out whenever he wanted to. He informed them that Loki was less likely to stab them all while they slept if they weren’t trying to keep him in a cage.

They let Loki out of the cell.

Shuri and Tony immediately began talking about looking into ways to more effectively keep him locked up. The soft hum of a few voices overlapping settled in the room as other people began discussions. They all sat in one of the many smaller conference rooms located throughout the palace. Natasha had left to go find Clint and bring him back to the room, as the archer had just arrived in Wakanda a couple of minutes ago.

All conversation came to an abrupt halt as Thor walked in, with his brother following closely behind.

Steve felt himself instinctively going into combat mode and he had to force himself to relax. Hostility buzzed in the air. The tension was so thick that someone could cut it with a knife. The only person who seemed entirely unaffected by Loki’s presence in the room was Shuri.

“Well go on then, sit down you two. We have things to discuss,” she told them.

Loki’s lips quirked upward in amusement. They settled in two chairs on the opposite end of the door. There was a moment of tense silence, and Clint chose that moment to barge in with a somewhat irritated looking Natasha following behind.

“Are you fucking serious? I didn’t actually believe you when you said that you let him out of the cage, and he’s fucking sitting right at the table. He’s not even cuffed. I’m going back into retirement.” He turned around to walk back out of the room, but Natasha stopped him with a hand to his chest.

“There would be no point,” said Tony, exasperation bleeding into his tone, “he would just get out with his magic.”

Clint scowled, “What about those magic sealing restraints Thor had? Why doesn’t he make a quick trip to Asgard for them?”

“Asgard has been destroyed,” Thor growled. That made Clint pause for a moment.

“Oh,” he said, blinking.

“Why hello there, Agent Barton,” said Loki, an eyebrow arched in what appeared to be bemusement.

Clint’s face turned red.

“You do _not_ get to speak to me like you fucking did nothing wrong, _you psycho,_ ” Clint snarled, his voice low and dangerous. Thor stood up abruptly, knocking the chair he was sitting on backwards.

“ _Watch your tongue_ ,” Thor snapped.

“Woah guys calm down,” said Bruce.

“Do _not_ tell me to _calm down_ when the evil bastard who _played_ in my mind like it was a damn sandbox is _siting right in front of me_!”

Thunder boomed outside, making everyone but Thor and Loki flinch. It suddenly brought attention to the rain pounding against the windows of the room. The wind howled. No one had noticed when it had started pouring.

Thor was shaking.

“Thor,” said Steve, his voice sounding strained.

“What?” he snapped.

Steve opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, then abruptly closed it.

Shuri watched with wide eyes. “You guys are a mess,” she muttered.

“Well no shit,” said Tony.

Loki was standing up now, placing a placating hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“That’s enough, _Brother_. I would say his anger is warranted, would you not?”

The emphasis on the word 'brother' was slight, but the implications of what it meant were deafening to anyone observing who had a clue about the two brothers' situation. The original Avengers remembered a Loki who had vehemently denied any relation to Thor and his family. Now, he claimed Thor as his kin entirely effortlessly. It was another sign that he had changed, and one that made Steve (and oddly enough, Natasha) even more keen on hearing what he had to say.

All the fight seemed to drain out of Thor and he slumped down into what had been previously Loki’s chair, as Thor’s remained knocked over.

“Seriously Thor?” said Loki incredulously.

“Shut up,” said Thor wearily.

The rain outside slowed down to a more reasonable intensity.

Clint watched with an odd look on his face as Loki made the chair stand back up properly with no more than a flick of his wrist. Then Loki took a seat and leaned forward. He laced his fingers together with an intent look in his eyes.

“You want an explanation, yes?" he asked, tilting his head in question. "Well sit down then, because this is a rather long one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally got the hug they deserved. No, I was not crying while writing that scene. I don't know why anyone would even think that. Like geez, do you seriously think I'm so emotional over the brotherly relationship of two fictional characters that I would waste over two hours of my life writing and rewriting a thousand word scene between them? Who do you think you are, to make such assumptions about me?  
>  _ ~~I was crying at 2 AM thinking about that scene.~~_  
>  _ ~~Am I the only one who obsessively rereads their chapters before actually posting them?~~_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki is honest for once, and the Avengers learn that he was just as much of a victim in 2012 as they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was equal parts difficult yet effortless to write. I hope it doesn't feel too forced.  
> Please excuse any typos. I only proofread this chapter five times instead of my usual ten.  
> Get ready for a shit load of dialogue ;)

“Why did you take the Tesseract from the vault?” Thor asked.

The remaining Avengers, plus Shuri and Loki, sat around a conference table. To Thor’s left sat Loki, who he directed the question at. Tension hummed in the air. Clint still looked ready to put an arrow in between Loki’s eyes.

Loki exhaled slowly, thinking about how to word his response. The others sitting around the table stared at him expectantly. The soft background noise of rain drumming against the window was comfortingly familiar, and Loki took a deep breath before speaking.

“I believe it might be best to start at the beginning of my… _association_ with Thanos.”

“Well get on with it then,” said Clint, earning a glare from both brothers.

“If you could give me a moment to think about how I should best tell the tale it would be very much appreciated,” Loki snapped.

Clint glared back.

Silence fell over the group, interrupted only by the occasional rumble of thunder outside. Loki’s eyes glazed over as he got lost in memory. At some point his hands had moved from their composed steepled position. They fidgeted, the nails of his left hand picked at the palm of his right. The silence became oppressive.

“It began when I fell from the Bifrost.” Loki’s voice was soft, but in the silence it sounded as loud as the storm that continued outside. Thor visibly stiffened at his words.

“I fell and Thanos caught me. If he hadn’t, I probably would have kept falling for all of eternity, which was what I wanted when I let go. He should have let me keep falling, but he didn’t.”

“Loki…” Thor protested, a frown marring his features. Loki shook his head as Thor opened his mouth to continue, and the king fell silent.

“He noticed I was alive. No mortal would have been able to live through that fall. He thought I could be _useful_ ,” said Loki. His lip curled in disgust. “So, he brought me onto his ship. He explained who he was, and the so-called favor I now owed him because he saved me from an eternity of solitude.”

“What did you do?” Steve asked.

Loki scoffed, “I laughed in his face of course.”

Thor grinned.

“He wasn’t terribly pleased about that. He told me he could offer me power to wield, a place to rule. I would be lying if I said the idea didn’t tempt me, but I was past the days of serving other men. He threw me into a dungeon at my refusal and left me there for days. He came back with knowledge of who I was. Apparently, that made him want to make me into his servant even more than before.” Loki fell silent, staring hard at the wall.

“What happened next,” Tony prompted, and Loki shot him a wry grin.

“Let’s just say that Thanos is rather good at getting people to do as he wishes and leave it at that.”

“That’s not good enough,” Clint interjected. Loki raised an eyebrow. Natasha nodded in agreement.

“You could very easily have lied about you refusing,” she said. “We have no reason to trust you.”

Loki scowled but didn’t tell her she was wrong. They all saw his hesitation. Loki had been dreading this part of his plan since he had mapped out all the details aboard the _Statesman_.

_You have to tell them._

He knew it was necessary, but it didn’t make the idea any easier to stomach. Loki drummed his fingers against the table, trying to ignore the nausea that had crawled into his throat.

“At this point in time, Thanos had already acquired the Mind Stone.”

“Are you telling us that you were mind controlled the whole time?” Tony asked. “That seems awfully convenient for you now. Besides, your eyes weren’t glowing blue.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“Did I say that? Stop jumping to conclusions. No, I was not being controlled, not in that sense anyway.”

“Then what excuse could you possibly have?” asked Clint. Loki locked eyes with him.

“Do you know what it’s like to be unmade, Agent Barton?”

Clint snarled, “You damn well know I do since you’re the one who-”

“No,” said Loki cutting him off, “you don’t, not truly.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Loki leaned forward, a gleam in his eyes that made everyone’s hands shift closer to their weapons.

“Tell me Barton, when I was finished with you were you recognizable? Did your friends, family, and loved ones recognize you? Did the very fundamental aspects of yourself, your personality, your very _being_ remain intact?” Loki’s voice dropped into a dangerous octave. Tony swallowed, anxiety clawing its way into his windpipe. Steve’s hands gripped his knees, knuckles turning white. Bruce watched him with wide eyes. Thor looked pained, like he knew what was coming next.

“That’s what happened to me,” said Loki. His voice so soft and icy that if Clint had been standing up he would have unconsciously taken a step back.

Loki had to take a moment to remember how to breathe.

_In then out, in then out. This is necessary. Get on with it._

“He tore into my mind and _shaped_ me into what he wanted. He tore me apart, _piece by piece_ , and put the pieces back together _wrong_. He changed my memories, my thought process, my loyalties and my goals.” He gave a self-deprecating laugh then. “It wasn’t difficult for him. I resisted, but I was already twisted and bitter. I had nothing left, until he made me want to work for something _more_.

“He made me power hungry instead of desperate for something else entirely. He wanted me to stop at nothing to conquer. He took my memory of my fall and _remade_ it, molding it into a betrayal instead of a suicide.”

Thor made a noise in the back his throat. Suddenly those words thrown at him all those years ago made sense.

_“I remember you tossing me into an abyss!”_

Steve looked like he was going to throw up.

Loki could have stopped then, and if he hadn’t gotten swept up in his emotions he would have. Instead he kept going, because he was tired of having this weight on his chest and he couldn’t think of anything other than _getting it off_. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see the look of horror on Barton’s face when he learned that Loki was just as much of a victim as he.

“Any drive that I may have possessed to amend things with my brother or father was gone. I hated them as I always had but I forgot that I _loved_ them too. When you have no one left that you care for, your sanity twists into something unrecognizable. I was unhinged when I fell, and entirely _insane_ when I arrived here.

“I wanted Midgard to burn and Asgard to drown in its ashes. I wanted to wreak havoc, not just chaos as it should be, but _unadulterated destruction_. I wanted a throne, something I had never envied for the entirety of my life until then.

“He also made me terrified. Terrified of him, terrified of what he would do if I failed him. He made me into his _dog_ ,” Loki spat, self-loathing flitted across his features. He finally stopped then, chest heaving and nails clawing into his skin. The pain was grounding and he dug them in deeper. Thor noticed and placed his hands over his brother’s.

“I think that’s enough of that, Brother,” he said gently while prying Loki’s hands apart. Loki didn’t resist, but he did pull his hands away afterward and place them under the table and on his lap.

“That is my excuse, Agent Barton,” Loki said, voice once again eerily calm and his face a careful blank mask. The horror Loki had predicted on his face sent a surge of satisfaction through him, but it only faded away into a resigned weariness.

_You’re pathetic, and now all these mortals know it too._

“I am not a good person,” said Loki. “Do not let the truth create more illusions. I was already unstable when I fell, and I had murdered hundreds in cold blood before I was anywhere near Thanos.”

“That’s enough Loki,” said Thor. “That is our business, not theirs. We both know that I have killed just as many as you. We will discuss your actions before your fall _in length_ later since you seem rather compelled to be honest at the moment.”

“Oh joy,” Loki quipped with a roll of his eyes.

When he scanned the faces at the table, he saw emotions that he had expected. The disgust, the horror, and even the pity he had predicted. What he had not foreseen however, was the _anger_. A righteous fury burned in each of their gazes, not directed at him, but _for_ him. It was so surreal it sent him reeling. To think that they of all people would feel anger on the behalf of someone like him.

_Isn’t that their purpose in the end? To avenge, not for themselves, but for others. Isn't that is their goal?_

“Fuck this!” shouted Tony. He stood up and started pacing. “How is it that this giant, purple _asshat_ screwed over every person’s life in the entire universe? Even before all this more recent bullshit he was fucking with us. No guy gets too be this much of a dick and get away with it,” he snarled.

“Damn straight,” said Clint.

“I’d like to give him a good kick in the balls,” Shuri remarked, her eyes fiery.

“I don’t need the Hulk’s help,” said Bruce in a low tone. “Given the chance _I’ll_ kill him with my bare hands.”

Thor’s expression was dangerous. The wind outside picked up as rain hammered away against the windows. Lightning flashed, and thunder boomed outside like an earsplitting drum.

“ _He will pay_ ,” said Thor, in a voice so menacing that everyone at the table was reminded of what Thor is at the core of his being: a child of war, the brother of chaos, and a harbinger of natural disaster.

And suddenly Loki _laughed_. He couldn’t help the rush of elation and exhilaration that swept through him. This is what he _lived_ for, what made his bones sing in an aching combination of familiarity and the unknown. It was chaos, the beckoning of change, the ignition of a war with too many outcomes to possibly predict. The thing that Loki was, what he had always been, was being openly displayed on people who had once called himself his enemy. The irony of it all was the equivalent to a joke.

“What is it?” asked Thor with a raised eyebrow.

“That fear that I mentioned, that Thanos had brought on with the Mind Stone, it never truly went away,” Loki said softly, looking his brother in the eye because he could not bear to look at the rest of them. “At some point I had resigned myself to always having to feel it. Even as I healed my mind it did not fade entirely. I thought it was a permanent part of me. It never went away, at least not until now.”

When Thor gave him a sad grin Loki’s eyes may have welled with unshed tears, but that was okay. And maybe when Thor pulled him into his second hug of that day Loki buried his face into his brother’s shoulder to hide the tears when they fell, but that was okay too.

Loki had always been emotional. After so long of trying to ignore his feelings and push them down, maybe it was okay to feel them again, just for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki's explanation in this chapter is my headcanon for what actually happened to him in between the events of the first Thor movie and Avengers. A lot of his dialogue in Avengers heavily implies that he remembers the events of Thor entirely differently from how they actually occurred. Tom Hiddleston has also said in an interview that Loki's time before Avengers was rough. With those two pieces of evidence, as well as the fact that Thanos had the Mind Stone to begin with, led me to this conclusion. Loki still has a lot to answer for and he knows it, but he's also just as much of a victim as the rest of them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We make more sense of Loki's actions and Peter's gang runs into some unexpected potential allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _*Desperately claws my way out of the dark, bottomless pit that is Detroit: Become Human*_ SHiT iT'S saTuRDaY I NeEd To UpLoaD a NeW cHApTer
> 
> So uh yeah, that's where I've been if any of you who follow "Earth's Mightoest Heroes" have been wondering why I once again have disappeared for a week. I beat the game in _three days_ guys. Seriously, I bought the game and two days later I was watching the end credits roll. It is an incredible game. I 100% recommend it.
> 
> Bad news guys. I didn't write a chapter this week, which means that I don't have the next chapter already written. I'm also starting school in less than two weeks. You do the math. Basically, I can't promise a regular posting schedule from this moment onward. Sorry guys :/
> 
> **SPOILER WARNING: This chapter and other chapters onward will have spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp. If you don't want the movie spoiled for you, I suggest waiting until you have watched the movie to keep reading.**

Loki was tired. No part of him wanted to face the other people in the room. He wanted to retreat to somewhere with a bed, to curl up under the covers where no one could see him, and to not emerge for days. Regrettably, that was not currently an option in his life. There would be plenty of time for that later, but for now he had a plan that he needed to see to completion. So, he willed his face into an expression of calm composure and cast a small working to hide the redness of his eyes. He carefully detached himself from his brother’s embrace and met the stares of the observers. Loki’s gaze hardened into steel.

_No more being weak._

“That leads us back to Thor’s question,” Loki said, breaking the silence. “Why did I take the Tesseract? Anyone want to guess?”

Thor rolled his eyes. “For once in your life can you please give me a straight answer?”

“Very well,” said Loki with a grin.

He hummed, drumming his fingers against the table before he spoke, “In the moment of taking it, I did not have much time to think it over. It was an impulsive decision, but one with a goal.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “And what would that goal be?”

“Thanos originally sent me to Midgard to retrieve the Tesseract. He sent me with one Infinity Stone, expecting me to return with two. Regardless of whether or not I had any of the Stones, I knew he would find me. With the Tesseract I would at least of some leverage. I hoped it would be enough to give them a chance.”

“Who is this ‘them’ you speak of?” asked Tony.

“Thor and the rest of the people of Asgard,” Loki told him, not looking at his brother as he spoke. “But mostly Thor.”

“What about you?” asked Natasha.

“Or the rest of the universe?” Clint interjected.

Loki shot them an odd smirk. “I was already as good as dead, having failed Thanos, and when have I _ever_ seemed like the type to give a damn about the good of the universe?”

“So, you’re saying that you would doom the rest of the universe to give your brother only a _chance_ at survival?” asked Rhodey incredulously.

“Yes,” Loki said simply. Thor was blatantly staring at his brother at this point, and Loki was blatantly ignoring him.

“Oh,” said Bruce. They sat there silently for a moment, everyone other than Loki starting to reassess him in his brain.

Tony groaned. “I hate that I can’t even fault him for that. Like, that’s a selfish choice but I can’t even say that it’s wrong,” he complained, waving his hands inarticulately.

Steve silently agreed. He thought about Bucky and the way he threw everything else out the window to help him. He couldn’t say what he would choose if the choice came down to Bucky or the entire universe, but he could definitely understand where Loki was coming from.

“You said you had a plan. I know you well enough to know that you would never consider a vague goal to be an actual plan,” said Thor, prompting him to continue while silently making a note to himself remember to bring up that unusual display of loyalty during their future discussion.

Loki nodded in agreement. “That was only my reason for taking the Tesseract.”

“What was your actual plan then?” asked Bruce. Loki folded his hands neatly on top of his lap.

“Aboard the _Statesman_ I had plenty of time to think. I had the Tesseract, the Mad Titan on his way to kill me and everyone else I was with, and nothing to help me but my seidr.”

“What’s seidr?” asked Shuri.

“It’s like Asgardian magic,” Bruce told them. They all looked at him. “What? I was stuck on a ship with him for a few weeks before Thanos attacked. I learned things.” Thor snorted.

“Continuing on,” said Loki with a roll of his eyes. “I thought about leaving and taking the Tesseract with me, but I was reluctant to do so. Then I remembered a fundamental truth of existence that I have taken advantage of, not once, but twice.”

“What’s that?” asked Clint. Loki locked eyes with him.

“That the best way to escape the consequences of your actions is to die.”

Thor barked out a bitter laugh. “Of course! It all makes sense now. Why would you bother facing the problem if you can run from it? Damn everyone else who could get hurt in the process.”

“Thor…”

“ _I’M TIRED OF WATCHING YOU DIE, LOKI!”_ Thor roared, slamming the palms of his hands into the table hard enough to make it crack under the force. Loki flinched as though he had been struck.

“ _Three times_ ,” Thor snarled, chest heaving. “I had to watch you die _three times_. I’m warning you now Brother, I do not think I could forgive you again after a fourth.”

Loki stared down at his hands in his lap.

“Yikes,” Tony muttered. Bruce kicked him underneath the table.

Loki started to smirk.

“What?” Thor snapped at him. Loki glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?” Loki asked, his smirk turning into a grin.

Thor stared at him for a moment, utterly dumbfounded. He groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“Norns, you are absolutely impossible.”

“Yes, we’ve established that,” said Loki, sounding not at all offended.

“So, you decided to fake your death so Thanos wouldn’t actually kill you,” said Natasha, getting them back on track. “You can’t run for forever after all.”

“Exactly,” said Loki.

“Well Thor’s still alive and so are you. Isn’t that what you wanted? Why are you even here then?” asked Tony.

“Those _were_ my first two priorities, but I did have a third.”

“And what was that?” Steve asked him.

“It’s simple really, I don’t like to lose,” said Loki.

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Shuri.

Loki’s eyes glittered mischievously. “I wasn’t just going to let Thanos win.”

“Wait a minute, are you saying that you care more about some petty satisfaction than actually saving the universe?” asked Rhodey.

“Yes, that’s exactly what he’s saying,” Thor told them.

“Wow,” said Tony.

Loki raised an eyebrow. “That ‘petty satisfaction’ is about to solve your current situation, so I suggest that you keep such thoughts to yourself.”

“Prickly,” Shuri noted, sounding alarmingly delighted.

“Loki, you practically _gave_ him the Tesseract,” said Thor. “How are you planning on winning when he has all of the Infinity Stones? We already _lost_ once.”

“Wow, you’ve become alarmingly pessimistic.”

“Loki,” Thor growled.

Loki sighed. “Fine. Norns you need to relax.”

“I hate you.”

“I knew he would take the Tesseract from me, so I planned accordingly.”

Clint scoffed. “How do you plan for that?”

“You make it work in your favor,” Loki countered smoothly. “Simply put, I worked a tracking spell into the Space Stone itself, so I could find him whenever I wanted.”

“Why in God’s name would you want to do that?” asked Tony.

“So, I could steal from him of course,” said Loki casually. He pulled his hand out from his lap and placed it on the table, palm facing upwards. His fingers curled into a fist.

“Foolish of you Brother, to assume that Thanos still has all of the Stones.”

And then he uncurled his fingers. Resting in the palm of his hand was a stone. No, not just any stone, an _Infinity Stone_. It glowed an orange light that pulsed softly like a heartbeat.

“Is that…?” Steve trailed off, staring at the Stone in a combination of shock and awe.

“Yes,” said Loki. The orange glow emanating from the Stone cast an odd light across his face, and when he looked up his green eyes glittered with something that made everyone else feel uneasy.

“It is indeed the Soul Stone.”

 

The Soul World was weird for about the first five minutes. Then, unfortunately, it got boring

Well, it wasn’t really called the ‘Soul World’. Peter named it that; he had made a joke about it being like a trip to Disney World and the name just sort of stuck in his head.

So yeah, he’s calling it the Soul World.

Anyway, the Soul World got boring once the novelty wore off and so Peter was _bored_. They had walked for miles and miles and literally nothing changed. It was still completely orange. The color was actually starting to make him feel a little nauseous. They had also seen no one, and Strange seemed a little confused by that. He said something along the lines of “In most futures we met someone by now.” This made _Peter_ confused because if he had _known_ that they had ended up in the Soul Stone by seeing the future then why did he need to check with his voodoo magic thing to figure out where they were in the first place? Also, his feet were starting to hurt. Well actually they weren’t, but he was bored and complaining was something to do, so he spoke up.

“My feet hurt.”

“Ugh, me too. What has it been like five hours?” whined Quill. He kicked the sandy ground and sent a cloud of it directly at Drax who shouted in protest.

“Stop complaining,” said Strange.

“Oh shut up,” said Quill. “You’re literally floating so you don’t have to walk.”

Sure enough, Strange was levitating a few inches above the ground.

“Woah wait, that’s smart. It’s your cloak that does it right? Would it give me a ride?” asked Peter.

Mantis stubbed her toe and yelped in pain. She stumbled into Drax who shoved her off in annoyance.

“I told you that I don’t like you that way,” he informed her.

Strange groaned. “I am surrounded by utter fools.”

“I’m actually really smart,” Peter informed him.

“Why do I question that?” said Quill.

“Hey! _You’re_ the one who said Thor isn’t that attractive.”

Drax nodded solemnly. “Thor is indeed a handsome man.”

“So muscular,” said Mantis, backing the other two up.

Quill opened his mouth to disagree, but before he could say anything Peter came to an abrupt halt. Mantis bumped into him from behind.

“What? What is it?” asked Strange.

“I don’t know,” said Peter, turning in a slow circle. He sounded confused. “I sense other people, but I can’t see them.”

“Well that’s great. Not ominous at all,” said Quill drily.

Footsteps muffled by sand sounded behind them, and they all whirled around in surprise.

“Uh guys? They weren’t there just a second ago,” said Peter warily.

Walking towards them was a group of three people. Two of them were older with gray hair, a man and the woman, while the third was a younger woman with long black hair. The trio came to a halt in front of them. They looked... lost.

“We didn’t see you either until just now,” said the younger woman. She sounded confused, but Peter’s group still eyed them cautiously. She raised an eyebrow at Peter’s suit.

“Are you Spider-Man?” she asked.

“Who are you?” Quill cut in before Peter could answer.

She stared at them for a moment. “My name is Hope. These are my parents, Janet and Hank. Do you have any idea where we are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession: I don't like this chapter at all. It bothers me for some reason. Sorry for forcing this trash down your throats.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki finally walks the Avengers through the rest of the plan, and Tony grieves two people he lost in two different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could give you guys excuses as to why I haven't posted in over four months, or I could just let you guys get on with reading.

“Why the _hell_ would you bring an Infinity Stone here!?” shouted Tony, throwing his hands up in the air. “You just made us a target again!”

Loki snarled in frustration, “Because your gang of idiotic fools are the only ones who stand a chance at making things right!”

“Okay, but _why_ the Soul Stone? Wouldn’t the Time Stone make more sense?” asked Steve.

“Are you _trying_ to draw Thanos here?” Natasha asked.

“If you could stop asking questions then maybe I could explain!”

“Brother, calm down.”

“I _can’t!_ ” shouted Loki. “I cannot _calm down_ because we are running on borrowed time and these morons will not shut their mouths for longer than a couple seconds because they _love_ the sounds of their voices – it makes them feel important!”

“ALRIGHT!” Shuri shouted. She stood up and slammed the palms of her hands on the table. Bruce jumped in surprise. She locked gazes with Loki.

“My brother is _dead_ because Infinity Stones brought Thanos to Earth, so you better have a damn good reason for making as a target again. _Explain_.”

Loki acknowledged her with a nod, and then opened his mouth to speak.

“The people that Thanos had killed, they’re all _in_ the Soul Stone.”

“Wait what,” asked Clint, eyes wide.

“The Infinity Stones are power sources. They’re almost like Midgardian – what’s the word again?”

“Batteries,” Tony supplied, already catching on.

“Yes! And what do batteries need to do?”

“Recharge?” asked Bruce.

“Exactly! The Infinity Stones will absorb the power they represent given that they were used to take said power. The Time Stone will absorb lost time, the Mind Stone will absorb lost minds, and the Soul Stone will take-”

“Lost souls,” Shuri filled in for him.

“And because Thanos killed everyone with the Infinity Stones, all those souls will be stored inside the Soul Stone,” Tony finished.

“Yes, and I know how to get them out.”

“How?” asked Natasha.

“My brother can open pathways between worlds,” said Thor. He grinned at Loki. “That’s how you’re going to get them out, right?”

“Hold on,” said Clint. “How does that help us?”

“The power of the Infinity Stones is so massive that it would not be incorrect to describe them as different worlds,” Loki explained.

“So, you’re saying that while they’re trapped in the Soul Stone they’re basically existing in an alternate reality?” asked Bruce.

“Sure,” said Loki with a shrug.

“What the fuck?” Clint whispered softly.

 

“What the hell do we do now?” asked Sam.

“Fuck if I know,” said Bucky.

They stared at the endless expanse of orange.

“I hate this color,” decided Bucky.

“Well that’s one thing we agree on.”

Sam turned to look at Wanda, who was sitting on the sand with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her hair fell in front of her face, obscuring it from view. He sighed.

“I’m worried about her,” he said with a frown. Bucky turned his head to look at her and shrugged.

“I’m the worst person to try to comfort people at this point,” he said bitterly.

Sam clapped him on the shoulder, “I’ll talk to her.”

Before he could get to her however, she was approached by Groot. The odd creature put a gentle hand – or a _branch_ or whatever you would call it – on her shoulder. Wanda looked up at him with sad eyes. A small, white flower bloomed on his arm, unfurling into existence. He plucked it and handed it to her. She offered him a watery smile and took it.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I am Groot,” he replied, looking somewhat embarrassed. He walked away.

“Well that’s not something you see every day,” said Sam.

“I think you just described my life,” Bucky informed him. Sam snorted.

 

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t just grab the entire Infinity Gauntlet,” remarked Clint.

Loki sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Power such as the Infinity Stones corrupts. They can bring out the worst qualities of a person if you let yourself be swayed,” he gave them a slightly manic grin, “and we all know that I am probably the least stable person in this room.”

“So if you had taken all of them, you would have had to fend off the corruption of six Infinity Stones instead of one,” said Tony.

“Correct.”

“How the hell did Thanos use all of them then?” Rhodey asked.

“Powerful minds will not be bent to the will of others. Thor could probably do it as well if he had any basic understanding as something known as finesse.”

Tony gave a surprised laugh.

“I will not be offended. I am wise enough now to see that was a compliment veiled in an insult.”

Loki scoffed, “You used to be so much more fun.” Thor rolled his eyes with a grin on his face.

“Wait, we still have the problem of Thanos realizing the Infinity Stone is gone and coming here,” said Bruce, and the smile melted off Thor’s face.

“I bought us time, hopefully a few months of it,” Loki informed them. “Definitely enough to rescue your allies from the Soul Stone.”

“Okay that’s great and all, but he’s going to show up at some point and he’s going to have the Infinity Gauntlet with him,” said Tony.

Realization dawned on Steve, “But that’s the whole point, isn’t it?”

Loki smirked, “You’re more intelligent than I gave you credit for, Captain.”

“You _want_ him to bring the Infinity Gauntlet here?” asked Clint incredulously.

Shuri nodded in understanding, “We need all of the Infinity Stones to reverse everything that he did.”

“If I can’t haul all of them across the universe, I might as well make him do it for me,” said Loki. His smirk had turned into a genuine grin, and his eyes glittered with mischief.

Thor let out a breathless laugh, “You’ve been playing him this whole time.”

“Well,” said Loki rather cheerfully, “that is what I do, isn’t it?”

“Hate to interrupt you feeling like a genius, but how the hell are we even going to get it from him?” asked Tony, ever the cynic.

Loki exhaled slowly, drumming his fingers on the table.

“The last time you lot fought him, you were divided. Your team was in fragments and at odds with each other. Wining separately is impossible.”

“We have to win _together_ ,” said Steve. He looked pained.

Tony scoffed, “Good luck getting this team’s shit together.”

“Tony…”

“Shut it Cap, I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped, before getting up and stalking out of the room.

Loki looked like he was trying not to smile, “I can’t tell if I’m delighted or concerned.”

Thor whacked him on the back of the head.

“Hey!”

Thor sighed.

“Fine, for Norn’s sake,” he looked at Bruce. “You should probably go after him.”

Bruce blinked, “Me?”

“Yes, you slow idiot. You weren’t involved at all so you’re unbiased.”

“Oh,” he said.

“Well go on then,” said Loki, making shooing motions with his hands.

“Alright, alright, I’m going,” said Bruce, hurrying out the door.

“By that reasoning you could have sent me,” said Thor.

“Yes, but they have a more solid friendship, correct?”

“How could you possibly know that?” asked Clint.

Loki fixed him with a dull look, “I’m not _blind_.”

Steve sighed like a kicked puppy.

 

Bruce found Tony pacing the common room they had been sitting in earlier like a caged animal.

“Tony?” he asked hesitantly, and Tony paused before turning to him. “Are you okay?”

Tony sighed before walking over to the couch. He practically collapsed in it, rubbing his chest with a pained look on his face. Bruce sat down next to him, watching him in concern.

“It hurts right here,” he said, rubbing his chest harder.

“Anxiety?” Bruce asked.

Tony gave a bitter laugh, “When is it not?”

Bruce said nothing, and they sat in silence for a moment.

“There’s this kid,” Tony began. He paused for a moment before inhaling sharply, “he’s like this fledgling superhero. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He goes by Spider-Man.”

“Yeah I have.”

“Well his real name is Peter. I’ve been sort-of-but-not-really mentoring him; giving him suits, gadgets, making sure he doesn’t get himself killed, all that jazz.”

Bruce let the corners of his lips quirk upwards, “Sounds like you like him.”

Tony sighed, “Yeah he’s a good kid, and he died with half of the universe.”

Bruce made a sad noise in the back of his throat and buried his head in his hands.

“Tony, I think we really fucked up this time.”

Tony laughed, “That’s an understatement.”

Bruce sat up and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Listen, I’m sorry I wasn’t around when everything went to shit, but I want you to know that I’ve got your back.”

When Tony smiled, it was genuine, “Aw Brucie! I didn’t realize you cared!”

“Shut up,” Bruce grumbled, shoving Tony away, who laughed. There was a beat of companionable silence before Bruce spoke up again.

“Why did you bring him up?”

“Who? Peter?”

“Yeah.”

Tony raked a hand through his hair, “He reminds me of Steve, but also of myself. Well, the best parts of me anyway. He’s what we could be if we weren’t always at each other’s throats, if we weren’t always lying to each other and insulting each other and screwing each other over.”

“And what’s that, what could you guys be?” Bruce asked.

When Tony looked up, he was crying in every way except literally.

“Better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! I'm back! *jazz hands*
> 
> Wow it has been so long, I almost forgot the whole plot I have planned out in my head. (No, I don't think a vague idea of what I'm going to be writing next counts as a plan but it is as close as I ever get to one.) This chapter is shorter than usual. It's definitely not the fantastic comeback I wanted to make, and I greatly apologize, but it felt right to end it right there. We've got that whole angsty impact. That last scene is the only thing I like about this chapter.
> 
> My sister walked in and asked what I was doing and I said, "Making 2,000 words per chapter my goal is too difficult and too optimistic, I greatly overestimated my power." She laughed. However, I am planning on sticking to that as best as I can. I know as a reader I prefer longer chapters so that's what I'm going to do here.
> 
> I know that all I've been writing for these past few chapters is just dialogue. I promise that now that we know Loki's whole plan it'll be more interesting scenes and not just them sitting around a table chatting. I'm also moving on a bit from Loki and Thor's relationship. The Brodinsons arc is now coming to a close. Don't worry though, I love them too much to stop writing them in here completely. Instead I'm moving more towards our other favorite problematic relationship: Steve and Tony. Writing them is like playing in an angst sandbox.
> 
> Here's a heads up: as I'm moving into the Civil War drama, _**I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT TEAM YOU ARE ON.**_ Frankly, I don't give a shit. Hate isn't welcome in my comments directed towards either side. If it looks like I'm on team Tony so far, I am not. I have no team - I am team Thor. I will start WWIII don't test me.
> 
> Fun little fact: I had this whole chapter written out _and_ the next one and then I lost them. That's pretty much what caused me to rage quit for the past four months. Whoops.
> 
> Anyway I'm currently on break so I figured I would get off my ass and start writing again so here we are. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Here's a fun little anecdote that has nothing to do with this fic. Anyone else play that last mission of RDR2 before the epilogue shooting blindly at enemies because you couldn't see through your tears? Because yup, that was my experience. I don't even want to play the epilogue now, I'm too busy grieving. I don't trust anything with cowboys anymore. Fuck cowboys.)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Steve argue because that's how they are. Loki and Thor should be certified as public school guidance counselors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well obviously with the release of the Endgame trailer this fic is no longer canon compliant. Tony can have my food and oxygen, I don't need it. My big blond softies are so sad. They can have my happiness I don't need that either.
> 
> I apologize for this whole chapter it's a mess and it's barely been proofread.

The first thing Tony had done after he had safely secured himself a room in the Wakandan palace was call Pepper Potts. It had loosened the knot of anxiety that resided in his chest. It never seemed to go away entirely, but it was the best he could do.

She had yelled at him for being a “suicidal idiot”. Then she cried, and thanked him for coming back alive.

He came to the startling realization that this was something he could no longer do to her. After everything was over, he was retiring and getting married. He would lock up the Iron Man suits in a basement and they would never see the light of day again.

No more. He was done.

He found himself anxiously waiting for approval to return to the United States, so he could hold her in his arms kiss the top of her head.

Someone who could relate to his desire for retirement, ironically enough, was Steve Rogers. Steve’s situation was somewhat of a paradox. He was a man who wanted peace, but did not know how to live without war. Most of his life he had been fighting something: sickness, Nazis, aliens – he was a warrior through and through.

Not so much of a soldier though, not anymore. He wasn’t very good at following orders he didn’t like, not since he got so used to giving them out himself.

Steve was also both the youngest and the oldest of the original Avengers. He was in his twenties when he went down in that plane. His retirement is both far too soon and long overdue.

He just wanted to take the weight of the world off his shoulders, and find a way to get comfortable with the ever persistent loneliness that had made itself known when he had woken up in a different century, and got worse the minute he walked into Peggy’s funeral.

He wanted Bucky back, more than he wanted to retire, because everything in his life seemed to lead back to him. Steve didn’t feel alone when he was around.

 

They finally got approval to return to the Avengers Compound in the U.S. Thaddeus Ross had died along with half of the universe, and the Accords had essentially died with him. No one cared anymore. Every government in every country was engaged in a mad scramble for power. Shuri had sent out an untraceable message saying that the Avengers, including those who had not signed the Accords, were returning. They had basically replied with “They can do whatever they want if they think they can fix this.”

“When this is over, we can use this to get rid of the Accords for good,” Steve had mumbled, mostly to himself.

“That’s _seriously_ what you’re thinking about right now?” Tony asked him incredulously. “Don’t we have bigger things to worry about?”

Steve looked towards him, “We’ll make it through this. It’ll work because it _has_ to. Of course I’m worried about what happens after.”

“You were so sure we’d be fine last time. Look at us now.”

“We’re together this time. You heard Loki, and you know he’s right. The _Accords_ caused this; they separated us and doomed everything else.”

Tony scoffed, “You think the Accords caused this? What about _your_ stubbornness-”

“And what about yours?” Steve snapped. “I’m so sick of being made into the villain just because I didn’t agree with you!”

“You know _damn well_ what you did to me!” Tony shouted.

“Because _you_ forced me to!”

“I didn’t _force_ you to do anything!”

“YES, YOU DID!” Steve snarled. Everyone in the room stared at him with wide eyes. Steve swallowed, then continued quietly, “You did, Tony. What was I supposed to do? What would you would have done if it was Rhodes?”

Tony said nothing.

“That’s what I thought,” he whispered.

“Steve, wait-” Clint tried, but the door was already slamming shut. A heavy silence hung over the room.

“Well,” said Loki casually. “You lot are in dire need of getting your shit together.” Thor punched him in the shoulder with a hissed “Shut up!”

“Hey!” Loki complained in indignation.

Tony got up and walked out as well.

“See!” said Thor, “Look what you did!”

Loki rolled his eyes, “He was going to leave anyway.”

“Yeah, he was,” said Rhodey, “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Great!” said Shuri, rubbing her hands together. “Now that I’ve gotten my fill of family drama, who wants to help me pack the jet?”

 

In the end, the person who found Tony was actually Loki. Not one for manual labor, he booked it out of the young genius’ lab as soon as she said she needed extra help. Thor would stay because he’s nice like that.

Loki figured he should at least be productive. A simple spell told him where both of them were. Tony was closer, which was something he was admittedly thankful for. He could see parts of himself in the engineer, but he had no idea how to talk to the captain.

Tony was out on one of the many balconies in the palace, elbows resting against the railing. The breeze ruffled his dark hair, and the sky was clear.

Loki situated himself next to him, too far to touch, but close enough that it didn’t feel awkward. He hummed under his breath, waiting for Tony to start speaking.

“It’s weird,” said Tony, raking a hand through his hair.

“Do enlighten me,” Loki said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Oh, shut up.”

Loki laughed.

“It’s bizarre that I feel more comfortable standing next to _you_ of all people than someone who I used to call a teammate.”

Loki drummed his fingers against the railing.

“I feel as though I must caution you to the fact that I’m not very good at this whole comforting upset people ordeal.”

Tony snorted, “I figured as much.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Maybe it’s because I never betrayed you. You never looked to me as a friend or someone to trust. Things hurt the worst when they’re done to you by the people you love.”

Tony thought about this for a moment.

“You would know, wouldn’t you?”

Loki grinned but he looked sad, “My brother knows better.”

“How do you get past this?”

Loki shook his head, “I don’t have a clue, I’m still bitter. Ask Thor.”

“Thor operates on a mindset I could never begin to understand.”

“That makes two of us. He’s simply unequivocally good, but maybe you need that advice more than you need mine.”

Tony looked at him. “You know, you actually are kind of wise.”

“I personally take offense to that statement.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

“Did you know that Thor said to me once that in a different life we could have ended up best friends?” Loki asked, snickering.

“Well I guess I dodged a bullet.”

“Hey! Take that back,” said Loki, feigning offense.

“Nope,” said Tony, already walking back inside. He realized with a blink of surprise that he was feeling significantly better than he did before he had talked to Loki. Maybe the trickster was better in those situations than he knew.

 

Thor found Steve sitting with his back against a fence post in the fields outside of the palace. Goats were grazing in the pasture behind him. Steve looked up as Thor approached him.

“Hey Thor,” he said, nodding in greeting. Thor returned the nod. The God of Thunder settled himself down on the grass close enough that their shoulders were brushing.

“Those were Bucky’s goats,” said Steve, jabbing a thumb behind him. “He liked to do farm work. I don’t get why but he did.”

“We’ll get him back,” said Thor, voice steely with determination.

“I know. We have to, because I don’t know what I’d do if we didn’t.”

Thor nodded solemnly, “I understand.”

“I’m kind of pathetic.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“I think I’m depressed, Thor.”

“I believe I understand that as well.”

Steve didn’t say anything, so Thor wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He sagged against him and tried not to cry.

“I believe in us, and I believe in Stark. Do not despair Captain, you two will find common ground and your family will be returned to you. You have my word.”

Steve sniffed and wiped tears off his cheeks with the back of his hand.

“Thank you, Thor, for being kind.”

“Always.”

 

The next day, Thor pulled Loki aside before they left.

“Loki, I must-”

“-stay here. I know Brother, I’m no fool. Take care of our people.”

“Of course I will. Where will you go when this is over?” Thor asked him.

Loki put a hand on his shoulder. “Do not fear. I do not plan on abandoning the people of Asgard, nor do I plan on abandoning you.”

Thor pulled him in for a quick hug. Loki allowed it because he’s unbelievably nice and deserves all affection.

“Good luck,” said Thor.

Loki smirked, “You as well. I hear you’ll be running things with Valkyrie.”

Thor groaned, and Loki patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. They exchanged goodbyes and Loki then followed the others aboard the quinjet.

“Stark! Wait!” Shuri shouted. Tony turned to her, eyebrows raised in question.

“Bring my brother home,” she instructed him, her expression fierce.

His eyes softened minutely, “Of course.”

“And learn to forgive, things will be easier then.”

Tony inhaled, “I’m not sure if I can do that.”

“Then try to at the very least.”

“I will,” he promised.

“Good,” she said, nodding in approval.

“You all have a plan, right?” a familiar voice asked. Tony turned around, blinking in surprise when he saw Rocket.

“You have a plan to save the people he killed,” Rocket barked irritably when Tony didn’t respond.

“Yes.”

“Then take me with you. I lost people. I’m going to get them back.”

Tony considered that for a moment before shrugging. “Welcome to the Avengers. Come on then, we’ve got work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Loki knows how to do is snark, and Thor's first reaction is just to give HUGS.
> 
> Bohemian Rhapsody is such a good movie go watch it right now. I just got back from watching it. I'm seeing Spiderverse with a friend tomorrow I'm so fucking hyped.
> 
> To be completely honest, I haven't been in a great place mentally. It's really hard for me to find motivation to write. I promise I will see this to the end, but you'll have to forgive me of my sporadic updates.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fun, totally not awkward family road trip occurs, followed by a fun, slightly less awkward family breakfast, which somehow led to them all sitting around a table with Loki giving them lessons on how the very universe ticks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve folks. I escaped watching the second Christmas movie of the night to edit and upload this. Sue me, but I don't like Christmas movies. I mean there's literally no point to them they're all just fluff. It's like eating snow - great at first but then it numbs your brain like snow numbs your tongue. I'm knowledgeable about this because the first thing I did when I first saw snow as a young Floridian child was shove that shit in my mouth. I do like Christmas though, and I hope you guys have a great one.
> 
> I'm going to apologize for this chapter before I make you read it because it's a hot mess, but we're getting somewhere now I promise.
> 
> You can honestly tell what mood I am in when I write looking at _how_ I write and I'm not sure if that's a problem.

The flight to the Avengers Compound felt like a family road trip after the parents had been fighting the night before. Tony sat at one end of the quinjet (next to Rhodey) and Steve sat at another (by himself). Steve kept staring at Tony and Tony refused to even look in his direction. Eventually, Steve got up and sat in the pilot’s chair to force himself not to look at Tony. It would have been funny if it didn’t make everything so tense.

Bruce just wished Mom and Dad would get along.

Loki seemed entirely unbothered by the palpable tension. His feet were kicked up on Bruce’s lap (he'd said “I’m going to use you as a footrest" and then propped his feet up without waiting for Bruce’s consent) and he was reading a book he had pulled out of seemingly nowhere with great interest.

Natasha and Clint sat next to each other, glancing between Tony and Steve and murmuring in low voices. Every once in awhile Tony would look towards them and scowl, which Bruce thought was fair. Steve seemed entirely oblivious, too wrapped up in his misery to notice when he was being obviously talked about. Rhodey looked like he was considering the merits of self-defenestration, which Bruce figured was also fair.

Rocket paced about anxiously, muttering to himself like a crazy person. To be fair, they were all kind of crazy at this point. Bruce and Tony were practically walking balls of anxiety. Steve was kind of losing it. Clint and Natasha were mostly their normal selves which just shows that they _are_ crazy. Loki was… well… himself. Rhodey looked like he had just given up on fixing the situation. The only one left who seemed sane was Thor, and the big guy wasn’t around to diffuse the tension the way he usually did.

Bruce had to pee.

He was faced with the dilemma of Loki’s feet being on his lap. He could easily just move them, but while he wasn’t exactly terrified of the guy anymore, he definitely did not want to risk getting stabbed.

Bruce poked him in the ankle. Loki looked up with an eyebrow raised. Bruce did not seem to be in danger of getting stabbed.

“I uh, gotta use the bathroom.”

Loki sighed, as if moving his feet off _Bruce’s_ lap was a great inconvenience.

“Very well then.”

And Bruce was now free and able to use the bathroom. Mission accomplished.

 

Pepper met them when they landed. Tony barreled past Bruce to get to her. They met each other with open arms, and for some reason Bruce wanted to burst into tears.

“You’re okay,” she gasped, touching Tony’s face as if she couldn’t believe it.

“I’m always okay,” he lied and kissed her forehead.

Bruce looked away, lump building in his throat.

 

Tony showed them to their rooms, announced that he was going to sleep for three years, suggested that they do the same, and disappeared into his with Pepper in tow.

Bruce took his advice gladly. He collapsed into his bed, every bone in his body aching, and slept better than he had in nearly a decade.

 

Steve woke up before the rest of them and decided he was going to make pancakes. Tony liked pancakes. And coffee. He’d make coffee too. It would be a good peace offering.

He was worried for a moment that the kitchen would be lacking the necessary ingredients, but his worries were unnecessary. Pepper was as perfect as always and had stocked the kitchen before they arrived. There was pancake mix in the pantry and eggs in the fridge. He found bacon and pulled that out too.

Steve got the coffee brewing and then got to work. He mixed the batter on autopilot. There was something soothing about the methodical feeling of cooking. It made him feel kind of better.

Tony woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon. He extracted himself from Pepper’s arms and wandered into the kitchen, yawning. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find, but it definitely wasn’t Steve adding a pancake to an already massive stack and flipping a slice of bacon.

Steve turned when he heard Tony walk in and offered him a small smile.

“Good morning, Tony.”

Too tired to remember that he was supposed to be mad at him, Tony mumbled a greeting in return and clambered onto a stool at the counter. Steve set a cup of coffee in front of him. It was black with no sugar – the way he liked it. He muttered a quick thanks and inhaled the caffeine.

Loki wandered into the kitchen next, wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. His hair was fluffy and tangled, not its usual slicked-back, greasy state. He looked weirdly normal.

“Good morning,” he said, perching himself on the stool next to Tony.

“Morning Loki. Coffee?” Steve asked.

“Mmm yes please, black with two sugars.”

Tony took a minute to appreciate how absurdly mundane the situation was. He was drinking coffee next to someone who had tried to kill him, while a person who had shattered his trust was standing in the kitchen making him and a bunch of other superheroes breakfast.

“You’re welcome to serve yourself if you’re hungry,” Steve told them, so Tony served himself breakfast with an ex-supervillain.

The others began to filter into the room. Bruce sat himself on Loki’s left with a massive plate of pancakes. “I haven’t had pancakes in years” he said to explain himself. Rhodey just grabbed coffee and clapped Tony on the shoulder before sitting at the table with a newspaper. Clint piled his plate with what appeared to be a pound of bacon and sat next to Rhodey. He chattered aimlessly and Rhodey only barely listened to him. Rocket entered the room and looked endlessly confused. Steve explained what he was cooking and offered him a plate. Rocket took it greedily and situated himself at the table on the opposite end of Clint and Rhodey. Natasha grabbed a plate with normal portions of food before sitting next to Clint, willingly subjecting herself to his word vomit. Pepper emerged and pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek, getting a cup of coffee and sitting on his right.

Steve watched the scene with a bittersweet pang in his chest before he served himself breakfast and sat opposite Natasha. They shared a small smile, and everyone ate breakfast and drank coffee and things were happily normal.

It felt like the calm before the storm.

 

“Okay, so how exactly are we doing this?” asked Shuri onscreen.

The remaining pieces of a broken team stood around a conference table. Thor and Shuri were on the other end of the call. Loki was the only one sitting with his feet propped up on another chair, twirling a knife in his fingers.

 _It’s like he_ needs _a footrest or something_ , Bruce thought to himself. _Maybe it’s for dramatic flair._

Loki sighed and ran a hand through his (unfortunately once again greasy) hair. Rocket glared at him aggressively from the other end of the table for no apparent reason.

“Well I’m assuming some of you want to come with me to make sure I do the job properly.”

“I’ll go,” said Tony immediately, because he was himself.

“No,” said Steve, shaking his head.

Loki rolled his eyes.

“Oh here we go again,” he muttered underneath his breath.

“What? Why? Because you don’t trust me?” Tony snapped.

“No that’s not it-”

“Why do you have to protest everything I do?”

“BECAUSE YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO LOSE!”

It felt like how it had been in Shuri’s labs the other day – everyone gawking at Steve because he had uncharacteristically raised his voice. They didn’t understand that he had changed, and not for the better. He felt their eyes on him and he wanted to retreat to his room and lock the door behind him. It reminded him of a conversation from a long time ago.

_“Why do you lead Stevie? It’s not like you enjoy talking to people.”_

_“Because if I don’t, then who will?”_

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was steely.

“You have a _fiancée_ ,” said Steve, as if that changed everything.

And it did actually, it really truly did.

“But-”

“I’ll get the kid for you, Tony.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Suddenly, the tension drained from Tony’s shoulders and he slumped in defeat.

“Thanks,” he muttered. Steve just nodded in return.

Rhodey put a hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, “Besides, we need Earth’s Best Defender here in case Thanos comes back.”

Loki clapped his hands together, “Great! Now that that’s settled, anyone else want to come along for the ride?”

“I will,” said Rocket, “My whole damn team got themselves trapped in there.”

“Alright then,” said Loki, “Well let’s get going, shall we?”

Bruce blinked.

“Wait, _now_?” Clint asked incredulously.

“Sure, why not? It’s not like you need to prepare for this sort of thing. You’ll be in an incorporeal form of sorts so it’s not like you’ll get hungry or tired.”

“Hold on a second, what happens to your bodies then?” asked Bruce.

“Oh they’ll come along with us, they just don’t mix very well with this certain plane of existence. Not to worry, everything will be fine.”

“How reassuring,” said Natasha, clearly sarcastic.

Loki looked affronted, “Excuse me, I have been a sorcerer for over a millennium I _know_ what I’m doing.”

“Loki,” said Thor onscreen. He looked worried.

“Yes, Brother?”

“You _will_ be able to get back to Midgard, correct?”

“Of course I will, I’ve already placed a tether here to lead me back.”

Bruce groaned, “I hate magic.”

“That makes two of us,” griped Tony.

“You only hate it because you lack the ability to understand it,” said Loki cheerfully.

“Uh huh, you wanna know something I don’t understand?” asked Tony.

“What is it?” Thor asked.

“Probably the same thing I’m confused about,” said Shuri.

“If every single person who Thanos killed with the Infinity Gauntlet is in the Soul Stone, how hell are you going to find the specific people we need to defeat him?”

“Yep that’s it,” confirmed Shuri.

Loki grinned.

“Fate,” he said simply.

“What the fuck does that mean?” asked Rocket.

For a moment Loki looked like he wanted to slam his head onto the table. He slipped the knife he was still playing with into his sleeve and sat forward.

“Fate has a mind of its own.”

“Three of them, actually,” Thor interjected casually.

Loki shushed him, “You’ll just make them more confused. Look, why do you think you lot, of all people, ended up together?”

“Um, sheer coincidence?” said Bruce.

Loki groaned in exasperation, “No. The original six of you ended up together because I arrived here to destroy the place.”

“Duh,” said Clint.

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“You ended up together because you _needed_ to be together. The point of the Fates, or the Norns as we call them, is to keep the universe balanced. There can’t be more evil than good, that would simply be meaningless destruction. However, evil encourages good in many circumstances. Both are necessary to the universe’s existence, and the Norns maintain that balance. Very few things can mess with the very order of the universe. Unfortunately for us-”

“The Infinity Stones can,” finished Tony, catching on.

“Exactly,” said Loki, sounding relieved that someone there wasn’t a complete moron.

“So, basically what you’re saying is that there’s currently more bad in the universe than good, and because of this fact some extremely powerful beings are annoyed,” said Steve.

“Yes! The Fates don’t do direct interference, but they will nudge things along as needed. In fact, out of trillions of people stuck in there, some of our potential allies might have already bumped into each other. I’d actually bet on it.”

Natasha stared at him with a raised eyebrow, “So you’re saying coincidence doesn’t exist.”

Loki scoffed, “Of course coincidence exists. It’s just that sometimes the Norns manipulate it for the benefit of the universe.”

“You’re saying that this entire mission relies on a concept that is impossible to prove,” said Tony.

“Yes.”

Tony, Shuri, and Bruce all groaned in unison.

“Right, now that we’ve gotten out of the way, let’s explore an Infinity Stone.”

“Seriously? Just like that?”

“Come on Captain, it’ll be fun,” said Loki, and he looked like he meant it. His eyes glittered with mischief, and he shifted on his feet like he was anxious to get going.

“Ah but Brother, you always claimed the exploration of the unknown was beneath you!” commented Thor, laughing.

“Yes, _your_ idea of exploration is beneath me. This is an exploration of knowledge!”

“You’re fucking crazy man,” said Rocket, jumping down from the table to stand next to Loki. “Luckily I’m crazy too, let’s do this thing.”

Steve sighed, “Fine then.”

“Fantastic!”

And suddenly the Soul Stone was in Loki’s hand.

“Holy shit dude, a little warning next time, please?” yelped Clint.

“Stop being so jumpy,” Loki chided him. Clint looked like he was going to punch him in the face. Loki ignored this and knelt down to place the Soul Stone on the floor. He backed up a few steps, and everyone copied him.

Bruce cleared his throat, “So um, what exactly-”

“Hush,” said Loki and he fell silent.

Loki closed his eyes. A few seconds passed, and he frowned.

“What is it?” Thor asked.

Loki’s brow furrowed, “I think… I think someone is stuck in the space between realms.”

“Huh?” asked Clint.

“The real question is how they even managed to get there.”

They all stood there awkwardly for a brief moment.

“Okay Loki basically all of us are lost so an explanation would be-”

“Be quiet for a single moment Stark I know it won’t kill you however much it pains you.”

Rhodey turned a surprised laugh into a strangled cough. Tony glared at him.

“I think they’re mortal,” said Loki, now sounding even more confused. “I wonder if I…” he trailed off. Loki tilted his head to the side in concentration and made a weird flicking motion with his hand as if he was swatting a fly.

Suddenly there was a ripping noise as if he had torn a rip in some sort of fabric (oh wait, the _fabric_ of reality, now that’s a fun thought), and a man fell screaming face-first onto the table.

Loki winced in an unusual display of empathy, “Sorry about that.”  

The man sat up, groaning. He rubbed a newly formed bump on his forehead and looked up to see the Avengers staring at him open-mouthed.

“Oh, hey guys,” said Scott Lang with a little wave, “how’s it going?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, using a vague magical concept to cover up a massive plot hole: Any more questions kids? I'm always free to give you an existential crisis.
> 
> Loki is that one teacher who gets annoyed when you don't understand a concept he's never taught before. Gotta love him.
> 
> An ignorant Steve anti: oH mY GoSh Do yOu FavOR SteVE'S SiDE oF CiViL WaR BeCaUSE yOu dON'T pRetEnd LiKe he'S aN AssHOLe WhO DOeSn't TrY  
> Me, someone who actually relates to Steve on a certain level: Dude, can you just like... not? Thanks.
> 
> I feel like I spend a lot of time ranting about Steve antis. This is due to an outside influence, she's rubbed off on me. I don't know if you're reading this Outside Influence, but this is your fault and I blame you entirely. 
> 
> "How do you write Steve and Tony's relationship?" you ask me. Simple. Just make them argue constantly that's pretty much them in canon anyway.
> 
> This is literally the only way I could think of to bring Scott into this, but come on. He's totally the kind of guy to fall face first out of an alternate realm and go "Hey guys what's up?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Multidimensional field trips!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang. I love Scott Lang.
> 
> Thanks for coming to my ted talk have a great day.

Scott was disoriented, which seemed fair considering that he had just fallen out of an alternate realm and hit his head really hard on a table. Steve offered him a glass of water and some (unfortunately) soggy pancakes from breakfast. It felt like they had eaten a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few hours.

Scott drowned his pancakes in syrup, explaining in between bites how he had gotten trapped in the Quantum Realm.

“Your companions made a portal to the space between worlds _without_ magic?” Loki asked.

Scott scratched his head. “Uh sure.”

Loki seemed vaguely impressed. Thor looked jealous of Scott’s pancakes, like any second now he was going to harness the Bifrost to teleport to the Avengers Compound and steal them.

“Wait, Scott, you’re saying it was like your team just disappeared?”

Scott nodded, unable to reply verbally because his cheeks were bulging with breakfast food. Everyone grimaced. Scott swallowed. “What? Why are you all making that face?”

It took a while to bring him up to speed. No one needed to walk him through the conclusion that the rest of them made: all his friends had died with half of the universe. They watched as the color drained from his face. He pushed his plate away and looked nauseous.

“We have a plan to fix it!” Bruce blurted out. Scott looked up.

“You do?” he asked, his voice heartrendingly hopeful.

Loki explained their plan, and he jumped to his feet immediately.

“I’m coming with you!” he shouted, then swayed in a way that was rather concerning.

“Woah there bud,” said Clint. He put a hand on Scott’s shoulder to steady him. A flash of bright energy arced from Scott to Clint’s hand, and Clint yelped in surprise. He staggered back, shaking his hand as if it was burned.

They all stared at Scott in surprise, but he looked more shocked than the rest of them.

“Fascinating,” Loki gasped. He grabbed Scott’s wrist and turned his hand so his palm was facing upward, studying him. Loki’s touch was purely clinical, but his fingers were freezing and it made Scott uncomfortable. He pulled his hand free from Loki’s grasp and took a step back. Scott eyed the trickster warily, but Loki appeared utterly oblivious to Scott’s discomfort.

“It appears that your time in this ‘Quantum Realm’ has changed you,” Loki observed, tapping his fingers against his chin.

“You should come here,” said Shuri onscreen, “I could run some tests.”

Scott looked reluctant. He rubbed the back of his neck. “But…”

“We’ve got it covered, Scott,” said Steve. He moved to clap his hand against Scott’s shoulder, then decided against it when he remembered what had happened to Clint.

“Okay,” said Scott, “if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

The silence that followed was awkward.

“I’ll go with you,” said Bruce, “maybe I can help.”

“So will I,” said Tony, unable to stand the thought of sitting around doing nothing while Steve was useful.

“Great!” said Shuri, grinning, “I could use some assistants!”

 

After working out who was doing what and going where, Loki once again set the Soul Stone on the floor and prepared to open a portal. There was that terrible ripping sound, and suddenly there was a _literal portal to another dimension_ sitting in the room. It didn’t look like Strange’s portals. It looked less like a doorway and more like a rip in the air. Every person in the room could feel its pull. It tugged at their clothes, their skin, their hair, their very _being_. Loki scooped up the Soul Stone and put it in a simple wooden case that he pulled out of nowhere.

“There, that should make it safe for you mortals to hold. I can’t put it in my pocket dimension – I don’t know how it’ll affect me in there and I’m not eager to find out.” He passed it to Tony and looked him in the eye. His green eyes were intense, and it unnerved Tony a bit.

“Guard this with your life, and give it to my brother when you get to Wakanda” Loki told him solemnly. Tony nodded and slipped the small box into his pocket.

Rocket and Steve approached the portal nervously.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Steve.

Tony snorted. “ _You’re_ asking that? Seriously? You like to jump out of planes without a parachute.”

Steve turned red. “Yeah well, I _know_ what’s gonna be there when I land. This is differ- ACK!”

That last part was because Loki had shoved him into the portal from behind. Steve stumbled forward and disappeared. Tony and Clint both let out a surprised laugh.

“Shove _me_ in and you’ll lose a hand,” Rocket barked. Loki just raised an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed.

“Ah what the hell,” said Rocket, and soon enough he was gone too.

“Bye Brother!” Loki called out cheerfully, waving towards the two figures who were still on the screen.

“Goodbye Loki, don’t die!” Thor called back.

“When do I ever?”

Thor laughed. “Fair enough!”

And just like that they were all gone. The portal sealed shut behind them. Tony tried to ignore the small part of his mind whispering that that would be the last time he ever saw them.

 

Pepper wanted to go with them to Wakanda, but she promised to babysit the Avengers while Tony was gone. Plus, she was still dealing with the chaos of being a CEO of a major company when half of their employees got killed off in a mass genocide. She was needed in the U.S. and Tony would lose his mind if he was stuck there doing nothing. They both agreed it was for the best.

Tony, Bruce, and Scott walked out to the road (because Tony would rather not have his lawn get ruined) and waited for Thor. Scott let out a squawk of surprise at the sight of the Bifrost. Thor grinned at him in greeting and clapped him on the back so hard that his knees buckled.

Scott decided he didn’t like traveling by the Bifrost. He stumbled into Thor and leaned against him, trying to ignore his nausea. The big guy didn’t seem to mind. He put his hands on Scott’s shoulders to steady him.

Thor nodded sympathetically. “The Bifrost tends to make people feel unwell the first time they travel on it.”

“Ugh, tell me about it,” said Tony, also looking a little green.

“Let’s not keep Shuri waiting,” said Bruce, seemingly unbothered. He walked forward, and the others followed. Tony fell into step beside him.

“When did you get the chance to build up a Bifrost tolerance?” he asked.

Bruce scratched his head in thought. “Well I might have hopped through a wormhole or two. They’re much worse than the Bifrost.”

Tony blinked. “Oh.”

 

Tony proved himself to be somewhat unnecessary. He could follow the conversation with no problem, but he wasn’t used to working with anything alive. Basically, he understood what was going on but had nothing to add. He left Shuri and Bruce to their discussion of cellular regeneration and how Scott’s powers affected it and wandered out of the lab. He ran into Thor, who seemed to understand his problem the moment he saw him.

“Come with me,” Thor told him, and they took another trip via Bifrost.

The Bifrost put them out in the middle of a forest clearing. Tony turned, and when he squinted he could see the Wakandan palace in the distance. There were people bustling about, chopping wood and putting up tents. A woman appeared to be in charge. She shouted orders in between swigs of what appeared to be some kind of liquor.

“Brunnhilde!” Thor shouted, waving towards her. She lifted her bottle in greeting, then started yelling at some poor men who apparently were putting a tent in the wrong place.

Tony suddenly realized what was going on. “These are the remaining Asgardians.”

“Yes,” said Thor, nodding sadly, “There are only a couple hundred of us left.”

“And they’re all relying on you.”

Thor sighed. “I haven’t wanted to be a king in years, but to ignore my duty would be to betray my people.”

Tony remembered what Loki said about going to Thor for advice. Now seemed like as good of a time as any, but for some reason Tony couldn’t find it in him to ask. He was struck by how insignificant his problems seemed compared to Thor’s, or even Shuri’s. All he had to worry about was himself. Stark Industries wasn’t even his responsibility anymore.

So they stood there in silence for a few minutes, the king and the engineer, the warrior and the genius, watching a group of people attempt to rebuild themselves.

“You want to ask me something.”

Tony blinked, startled, and looked at Thor. His mismatched eyes, electric blue and chocolate brown, were still focused on his people. Tony realized how different Thor was from when he had first met him. Obviously, his appearance was different; his hair was cropped short, the sides of it shaved even shorter, his eyes were heterochromatic (Tony still wasn’t sure how that had happened), he was wearing a different outfit and had a different weapon by his side. But there was also something different in his presence. He seemed sadder, like he had seen more death than he should’ve had to. There was a quiet aura of power around him. He had also matured quite a bit in the last decade, becoming much more aware of people other than himself.

He seemed like a king.

Tony sighed, already feeling the familiar feeling of anxiety crawling up his throat.

“How do you forgive someone who betrayed you?”

Thor said nothing, and for a moment Tony panicked. Was that question too personal? He shouldn’t have asked, but Thor spoke up before regret had time to settle in.

“It’s a question between love and hate,” he told him. “Will you choose to hold onto bitterness, or let go of that pain?”

Tony scowled. “You make the choice seem so obvious, but things aren’t that simple. Things are never that simple.”

Thor laughed. “That’s exactly my point. You cannot judge a person’s actions as purely right or wrong. I had this moment when I looked at my brother and saw all that he was – the good and the bad. I realized hating him was not worth it, not when we could accomplish so much more together. I accepted him and all that he’s done, and chose to love instead of hate. I have done much wrong in my lifetime, and he is among those I have wronged. He is not the only one of us who was wrong, just like I am not the only one who was right. I have a feeling your situation is similar.”

Tony bit his lip and said nothing.

“Don’t give up on the Captain, that would harm both of you more than you realize. You need each other.”

Tony scoffed. “I don’t need him.”

Thor sighed and was silent for a moment.

“When Loki and I were young, our mother used to compare us to the sun and the moon. We existed to balance each other, to be each other’s complimentary opposite. She told us that together we would make Asgard great. Not one of us alone, but both of our talents working together.” Thor turned to Tony and locked gazes with him. “Maybe you don’t need each other, but _Midgard does_. Together you will overcome this battle, but alone your chances are slim. Choose _love_ Tony, because even hate is weak in the face of loss.”

Tony stared at him, stunned. “When did you become so good with words?”

“Ah, probably when I began hanging out with Loki again.”

They both laughed.

“What if I’m not ready to choose?” asked Tony.

Thor put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Then give yourself time,” he told him with a gentle smile, “but don’t allow yourself to succumb to bitterness. That didn’t work out for me _or_ Loki.”

Tony took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “You’re right, thanks Thor. You’ve gotten really wise and it’s kind of intimidating.”

Thor snorted and punched his shoulder. It kind of hurt.

“Come on then, _Man of Iron_ , let us see if Brunnhilde has any tasks for us to complete!” He winked at Tony, who grinned. Thor was much more accustomed to modern language now, he hadn’t talked like that in years. It was a joke, and it made Tony nostalgic for the good old days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jumping out of a plane with no parachute? "Sure," says Steve, "no problem." Weird shit he can't explain? Now that makes him nervous.
> 
> Loki referred to the Quantum Realm as 'the space between worlds' because that's kind of how I see it. It's another realm that lets you squeeze between molecules. In Loki terms, he basically manipulates the energy of that realm to open portals. I _could_ get really deep into Norse mythology and tie it all into Yggdrasil (AKA the World Tree), but that's not what you guys are here for. So, I'll give you vague explanations in the chapter notes instead.
> 
> Thor is my king. That is all.


End file.
